The Other Plan
by Sashocirrione
Summary: What if Mello kidnapped Sayu and Light? And what if Soichiro wasn't very cooperative and needed to be pressured by a horrifying video? Mello and Light try to manipulate and torment each other sexually, using Mello's cheesy scripts. MelloxLight pairing.
1. Prologue

**Title: **"The Other Plan"

**Author: **Sashocirrione

**Spoilers: **MAJOR Spoilers for everything up to the kidnapping incident in the second arc of the manga/anime (episode 27 of the anime, chapter 60 of the manga) plus additional spoilers for some information from the latter part of the second half of the series, especially in the author's notes.

**Warnings: **NO UNDERAGE READERS. Rated M for a reason. Sexual activities. Violence. Grossness. Rape-like situation treated in a non-realistic way with consent issues, victim-blaming and survivor guilt. Foodplay, voyeurism, bondage, pain play, enemas, boot-licking. Misogynistic and racist statements in the dialogue and in the internal thoughts of some characters. Religious themes. Amputation.

**Summary: **What if Mello kidnapped Sayu and Light? And what if Soichiro wasn't very cooperative and needed to be pressured by a horrifying video? Mello and Light try to manipulate and torment each other, using sex as a weapon and a tool. Mello writes the scripts for porn videos, and tries to coerce Light into acting them out, by a combination of threats and the right kind of bait.

**Pairings: **MelloxLight and LightxMisa

**Additional Notes: **All the canon events previous to the start of this fic have occurred as normal, with just one exception: the extra members of the SPK (the extremely minor canon characters other than the main four of Near, Halle Lidner, Stephen Gevanni and Anthony Rester) are given a few details that do not match to canon. At the start of this fic, the storyline diverges, and then everything after that point is the divergent variety of AU. All other canon facts can be assumed to be normal.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Death Note, and I do not make any money from these writings.

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**CHAPTER 1: Prologue**

Mello was sitting on the back of a couch, eating his chocolate, surrounded by mafia members and their whores. Mello was satisfied by the progress he'd made. They had NPA Director Kanichi Takimura in the other room, and, even though the man hadn't said much, Mello was confident Takimura had already told them everything relevant he knew about the Kira case.

L had been very secretive. Takimura only knew which police members had originally joined with L to create a task force. There were only a handful of them, and one, Ukita, was already dead. Takimura was essentially useless now. He hadn't even known about the existence of the notebook.

It had been enough years that new people may have since joined the task force, and if so they were unknown, but it would be easy to at least find out if the old members were still pursuing Kira, and to find out what they knew. Chances were very high that they had the notebook.

The next logical move would be to put pressure on one or more of them; particularly whichever one was highest-ranking and therefore most likely to be able to get obedience from the others. Soon, it would be necessary to send Takimura back. If Mello were going to kidnap more people, it would work best if there were a good reason to believe the victims would be returned alive.

Just then, Rashual rushed into the room and said, "Boss!"

Without even shifting his position on the couch, Rod Ross calmly answered, "What is it? Settle down."

Rashual stammered, "So-sorry, Eddy and I looked away for a moment and Takimura strangled himself with his necktie."

Mello smiled. This was an interesting development. Had Kira killed Takimura? If so, he was too late, and the only thing he'd done was reveal information about himself. Kira, or Kira's leak, had a connection to the Japanese police. Well, they hadn't needed Takimura any longer except to prove they could keep their word and return hostages alive. Once the new kidnappings started, there would be other ways to convince those who had the notebook.

Rod Ross said, "You idiot, it doesn't really matter if the hostage dies, but..."

Mello interrupted, "No, it's better this way."

He took a bite of chocolate, thinking of how much fun the next step would be. And, if he got a notebook before Near, he'd have an edge, and he'd certainly catch Kira first.

Mello said, "Soichiro Yagami is the highest-ranking person among those we need to pressure next. If we kidnap both his kids, he won't be able to say no to us. No parent wants all their offspring killed. We're going to kidnap Light Yagami and Sayu Yagami."

Yes, it was very good news if Kira had killed Takimura. It narrowed down Kira's identity, and it also meant that Kira didn't know the identities of anyone involved in kidnapping Takimura.

Mello added, "We're safe from Kira. If he knew who we were, we'd be dead already."

This was perfect. Kira didn't know Mello or any of his underlings, and he'd never find out. Soon, they'd get the notebook that had been with the Japanese police, and then it would only be a matter of time before getting the other notebook. There were two notebooks, since there had been two Kiras. Higuchi was dead, but the killings continued. There was one Kira left.

Mello took another bite of chocolate. From studying Soichiro Yagami, the man clearly had a very strong moral fiber. Even with his children in the hands of kidnappers, he would not want to hand over to criminals a dangerous killing tool such as the notebook. Soichiro Yagami would not want to sacrifice many lives to save his own children. He would need to be pressured. Mello smiled. He knew of so many ways to put pressure on a frightened parent.

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**A/N (Author's Note):**

I know there are very few Mello/Light shippers out there, and I hope this work proves satisfying to them. Something about underutilized pairings just keeps attracting my attention!


	2. Elevator

**CHAPTER 2: Elevator**

Light turned away from Misa, but she grabbed his arm and held him in place. She said, "Light hasn't seen the entire set yet. Let's go back to Misa's private dressing room. It's really nice."

_One movie set looks just like another. I don't see why I need to be here._

Misa nuzzled into his arm, and, when he still ignored her, she began nipping lightly at his elbow, her eyes looking up with a sultry expression.

Light snatched his arm away and critically examined the damp patch on the fabric from Misa's spit. He tried to rub it away but it stayed. Then he gave her a disgusted look.

"Misa, don't lick my clothing! It was very nice of me to come for your private tour today, but if you're just going to grab me, we can do that at home. I took time off from work to see this. Now, both of us ought to be working."

Misa pouted. "But, Light almost never lets Misa grab him at home!"

"I have to work, Misa!"

Light began rapidly walking away. Misa skipped lightly after him and said, "But, Light hardly needs to work at all."

She glanced from side to side. Seeing nobody close, she dropped her voice and said, "After all, he's only pretending to chase himself. He should relax."

Light spun around, grabbed Misa's shoulders roughly and shook them. "Never talk like that! Don't you love me? Don't you know what could happen?"

Tears started in Misa's eyes, forming shimmering pools that gathered in her lower lids but did not fall.

_Crap! Now I need to comfort her. Why does she always demand so much attention?_

Light enfolded Misa tenderly in his arms. Rocking back and forth slightly, he kissed the top of her head and made shushing noises. He stroked her back, feeling her muscles relaxing. Then, just when he'd done exactly enough to avoid trouble later, he stepped back and smiled at her.

Misa smiled back, wearing her actress face, happy and fake. Light began walking away as if he were reluctant to leave, putting a certain heaviness in his steps that was carefully calculated to let Misa know just how much he cared, that he had to leave and he couldn't help it. He gave her a little wave just before he stepped onto the elevator, and she waved back cheerily.

The moment the elevator doors closed, Light's frown returned.

_Why didn't I kill her after Rem died? There are plenty of loyal Kira followers who could fulfill her duties. After all, I can hide my face and kill them if they disobey. Misa is a liability. She's too stupid. If anyone ever suspects us again, she'll be the weak point. Besides, I don't really want her. I don't like having to perform for her._

As Light thought it over, he concluded that the real reason he'd probably kept her alive was because her death might awaken twinges of suspicion, however small. He hadn't followed the other solution of making her give up ownership because wiping her memory wasn't a very good substitute for killing her. Misa tended to blab about what she did remember, bringing up all sorts of suspicious details.

That's what had happened with her and L. L had always given percentages for how likely Light was to be Kira, but he'd said there was no doubt Misa was the second Kira.

The reason L had no doubt was because innocent Misa had told him everything she could remember - seeing Light in Aoyama, somehow knowing his name at first sight, sending "occult videos" to Sakura TV, and all those other things - it was just too much evidence. It was completely obvious that Misa either was the second Kira or had been very neatly framed.

No, the most suitable solution would be to kill Misa, but it was still risky. It would be best to let a few more years pass so it would seem less suspicious. Perhaps he'd make her die of anorexia. After all, she was a model, and far too skinny. He could probably start that process well before the 23-day time span allotted by the death note by using his persuasion on her, so her death would seem particularly like something that hadn't been done with a death note.

If she put up any resistance, he might have to use sex as bait. The skinnier she got, the more sex. He'd tell her how good she looked that way, how much she turned him on, and she'd starve willingly. Misa was distasteful, but to kill her cleanly and unsuspiciously, Light could put up with sex. But what he really wanted was-

Suddenly, the elevator jerked, made a grinding noise, and stopped. Light pressed the button to open the door. Nothing happened. He swore under his breath and jabbed at the help button. Misa was right, his work wasn't of any importance, but it made him feel prestige and he liked to be there. Not stuck in a stupid boring elevator.

In a few moments, he heard someone on the roof of the elevator.

Light said, "Hello? Hello? I'm stuck in here."

There was no answer but a series of metallic clicks, and then a hissing noise as a white fog-like substance began filling the elevator. Light coughed and screamed. He tried to get away, retreating as the white fog expanded. He clawed at the doors, trying to force them open. He breathed a snatch of the stuff and it made him dizzy; he felt like he was fainting.

He pressed his face to the floor and breathed in the last few inches of clear air, then let loose the loudest screams he could manage. But it was no use. Nobody came to help, and the stuff was oozing into his throat with every breath, bringing waves of dizziness.

Light held his breath, but that didn't help for long. His vision was going black, his consciousness slipping away. He took an involuntary gasp, and then had one last thought before it all went away.

_This isn't supposed to happen to a god._

_

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_

**A/N (Author's Note):**

Well, this is a shorter chapter than I thought it would be, but as I continue to develop this fic, the structure is turning out a bit different than I thought.

I imagine it is Matt on the roof of that elevator (though we don't see him).

Thanks so much to all the people who reviewed the first chapter!


	3. Script

**CHAPTER 3: Script**

When Light woke up, his head felt like it had been stuffed with cotton. He opened his eyes and everything swam for a moment before stabilizing. He saw rough, red-painted corrugated metal in front of his eyes. Sitting up, he glanced around, his stomach doing a flip as he rose. It looked like the inside of a metal shipping container, the kind that could double as the trailer of a semi-truck. A kind of vibration and motion and distant hum of a motor seemed to confirm his impression.

The inside was dimly lit by round fluorescent lights, scattered at intervals along the upper walls. Their glow did not dispel all the gloom, so shadows gathered in the corners and in the spaces between the lights. Light rubbed at his body. It felt odd, stretched, and overly sensitive, almost like having a hangover.

It was then Light noticed the indistinct human-shaped lump lying at the farthest end from himself. He got up, finding his legs a bit unsteady. Was it still the after-effects of the sleeping gas, or was the floor beneath him swaying very slightly? Perhaps it was a ship?

Light walked slowly toward the figure, seeing it gradually resolve into the unconscious form of Sayu. He didn't bother to check her to see if she was okay. Instead, Light Yagami squatted on his heels and began to think.

Obviously, they had both been kidnapped. It had to be connected to NPA Director Kanichi Takimura's kidnapping, which could only mean it was connected to the death note. Light hadn't killed Takimura fast enough; he must have told his kidnappers names of the people who had originally been assigned to work under L, which would include Soichiro Yagami.

Takimura did not know anything about Kira's power coming from a notebook, but the kidnappers obviously knew, or they wouldn't have been requesting Kira's notebook in return for Kanichi Takimura's life. They must have obtained the tip from one of the many cops present at Higuchi's arrest, one who was close enough to hear Higuchi's confession of how his method worked.

Light silently cursed himself. He should have discovered the names of all those police officers and killed them right away.

But it was now time to deal with the present situation. One obvious way out of it was to wait for Soichiro to give in to the kidnappers' demands. Light wasn't sure if that would work. His dad was so upright and morally concerned that it actually interfered with investigations. Handing the death note over to people sure to abuse it would run counter to Soichiro's basic nature.

The other obvious possibility was somehow using the death note scrap in his watch to launch a plan, except that his watch and all his original clothes were missing. Light was dressed in a simple suit, neither expensive nor inexpensive, and a pair of leather shoes.

Light was trying to consider the least suspicious way to ask for his watch back when he was interrupted by a voice he hadn't heard for a long time, except from himself: L's modulated electronic voice.

For a moment he was terrified it was _him_. L, somehow back from the dead, though it didn't make any sense. Even if L had managed to fake his death, and Light was sure he hadn't, L wouldn't have waited years before pursuing Kira again. No, there was no way this was L.

The voice said, "I see you are up. As long as you don't make trouble, we won't gas you again and you can spend the rest of the trip in peace. There is a bucket in the corner for your needs, and someone will arrive with food and water in a few hours."

He glanced here and there, focusing to see where the sound was coming from despite the metallic echoes that bounced it around inside the shipping container, and at last spied a small, unobtrusive speaker on the ceiling.

The voice continued, "Do you have any questions?"

When Light answered, he played the part of the frightened abductee, using a shaky voice to request information, asking dozens of questions about what had happened, where they were going, and what the plan was, but the electronic voice didn't respond at all. Perhaps whoever was manning the microphone had left, or perhaps they just didn't feel like providing any answers.

During his tirade, Light calculated and planned. Using L's voice... it meant something. His captors shouldn't know that Light was actually part of the Kira investigation team himself, because Takimura didn't know; they should only know that his father was on the team.

Perhaps they suspected nepotism had put Light on the team. But, more likely, they just wanted to put the maximum pressure possible on Soichiro. Otherwise, the presence of Sayu didn't make sense. Still... that voice. Were the kidnappers stupid enough to think they could impersonate L? To someone who's father had interacted with the real L and for all they knew still did?

Or was it just some kind of joke? L's voice modulator wasn't something you could buy in a store; Light had spent a few weeks tweaking his own program to perfectly imitate it after it had been destroyed in the computer system wipe triggered by Watari's death. Did this mean the kidnappers had already raided task force headquarters, and had picked up the voice modulator there?

Light couldn't come up with any more answers, no matter how long he thought, and pretty soon Sayu revived. She was far more groggy and disoriented than he'd been upon awakening, and he had to explain the basic situation to her three times before it finally sunk in, of course leaving out the death note because Sayu didn't even know that existed.

Light simply told her that he'd heard some kidnappers were pressuring high-ranking members of the NPA who might know something about Kira, and they'd obviously been targeted because of their father's work. Sayu knew Light was also working on the Kira case, but she seemed to get the hint and didn't say anything. Either that or she was just too groggy and shocked to say anything. She retreated into a corner by herself and cried very quietly.

Light was offended that she didn't want to cry on his shoulder. He was her big brother; shouldn't she look to him for comfort? But they'd grown fairly distant since he'd found the death note in the first place. He was always so involved in being Kira, it ate up most of his time and energy, and Sayu had eventually learned that Light just wasn't interested in anything and so she gave him a lot of space.

Still, it hurt. He was creating a new world, a beautiful utopia for the masses, yet his own family members didn't really like him. The distant adoration of thousands was immensely pleasing to him, but it sometimes felt hollow and meaningless. They didn't even know who he was. Light wanted someone who knew who he truly was to deeply love and appreciate him. Someone other than annoying Misa. Her "love" came from mental illness more than anything else, so it didn't count. It was just her stupid "love at first sight" delusion.

The electronic voice did not speak again, but a man with brown spiky hair, a thick mustache, and muscular arms covered with tattoos made periodic visits, to bring meals laid out on cafeteria trays and to replace the toilet bucket. He barely said anything, just a few gruff replies in English that held no useful information whatsoever, and the look in his eyes clearly said that questions weren't welcome.

Neither Light nor Sayu had a watch, so they couldn't tell what time it was, but Light had a good internal sense of time, and he was sure it had been about a day when a series of different sensations of motion occurred, along with ear-popping, much like a plane landing on a runway, and then the muffled sound of an engine stopped.

L's electronic voice said, "It will only be a few more hours until we reach our destination."

Sayu pulled herself further into a crouch and whimpered, but Light replied, "Where are you taking us?"

There was a kind of giggle over the voice modulator, but no answer. Light found himself wanting to come apart inside. That voice... he knew it couldn't be L, no way, but it was immensely unsettling to hear it. It was giving him an eerie feeling, and he knew he'd need to watch himself so his emotions didn't lead him into a misstep. He was afraid of L, very afraid.

He'd been frightened of L ever since that "I am L" incident at the To-Oh University freshman ceremonies. L knew how to throw him off-balance, continually pushing Light so that he had to use every trick he could think of just to stay slightly ahead.

If it hadn't been for some luck on Light's side, he knew he very easily could have lost to L. Something as simple as not having that chance meeting with Naomi Misora or having a surprise search at the wrong moment could have led to a victory for L. And the voice kept making him think of L, kept making him subconsciously expect to see L, alive, confronting him the moment the shipping container opened.

Light did not want that image, that expectation, haunting his thoughts. He needed to stay calm and not trip up.

There were some jerky movements of the shipping container and then something that felt like a slow spin. Light imagined the shipping container was being dangled from a crane. Then there were some loud, hard-to-identify sounds at just one end followed by the rev of a motor, a sound like a big truck. The motor noise continued, and that, along with the vibrations and the sounds from underneath, like wheels on a road, led Light to believe that the shipping container was now acting as the trailer for a semi-truck, and they were being driven somewhere.

Light tried to deduce from the patterns of movement whether they were in a country that drove on the right side or the left side of the road, but eventually gave up on it. Every turn the semi-truck took was so wide that it was hard to tell just from the physical sensations felt inside the trailer; Light couldn't say whether the right turns or the left turns were wider.

Sayu had lapsed into an abnormal silence. She also looked unusually pale. Light wanted to go comfort her but, she hadn't cried on his shoulder, she hadn't reached out to him for comfort, so he took a kind of perverse pleasure in her silent struggle with fear. She was a family member, she really ought to love and look up to him more than she did. Perhaps this experience would teach her to appreciate the good things in life and not emotionally abandon her brother just because he'd done so to her.

That was the proper role of a woman. To continue to respond warmly to men even if those men were only cold in return. Misa, annoying as she was, at least realized that much. Light's mother knew it too. Sachiko Yagami was always responsive and appreciative no matter how much time her husband was away from home, and despite the exhausted silences that were often her only reward those few times when Soichiro did return from work before she went to sleep.

Light had learned the lesson well in his family. Women were there to be used when needed, for food, for companionship, for household chores, and then ignored when the need subsided. It was only men that you could have real relationships with, real friendships.

Somewhere in his musings, Light drifted off to sleep. He was extremely annoyed with himself when he jerked awake. He'd been exhausted but had known the end of the trip was near and he hadn't wanted to miss anything. His body had betrayed him. Although, not quite. He hadn't missed his chance. The sound of the motor was gone and there was no longer any movement or vibration. He'd surely woken in response to those changed cues. Light then heard muffled footsteps outside, and considered his options.

Getting out of the shipping container would happen soon, if it ever happened, and that might be an opportunity for escape. It all depended on how professional the kidnappers were. If they weren't too smart, they'd leave some loophole. However, Light knew he needed to either escape together with Sayu or make sure she was killed.

If he escaped but Sayu was left alive and in captivity, there would still be a risk of Soichiro handing over the death note, and that was unacceptable. For Soichiro to save Light's life at the cost of one death note was okay if that ended up being the only choice, but Sayu's life wasn't that valuable.

Light eyed his sister, and thought about the possibility of going over there and strangling her to death. No, that was bad for several reasons. If there wasn't an opportunity for escape coming up, that action would be difficult to explain to the kidnappers and could make them highly suspicious, thus cutting off opportunities for later plans. Also, it might be possible to use a live Sayu in some way to help engineer an escape and, if worst came to worst and Light was escaping in a hail of bullets, it would be nice to have a live Sayu to be a meat shield for those bullets.

When the end of the shipping container opened, Light expected to see a group of people, but instead he just saw the same lone guy who'd brought them their meals, the man with brown hair and muscular heavily-tattooed arms, and, beyond him, a bright landscape of paved areas, gravel, chain-link fences and vast rows of parked construction equipment such as bulldozers and cranes.

Light's hopes began to rise. Could this possibly be a one-man kidnapping operation? If there were others, why had they sent just one guy to control two people? Weren't they afraid of escape? Although, this one guy was built like a tower of muscle and every bit of his body language exuded experience and danger. It would not be simple to merely run for it.

The big brown-haired guy introduced himself for the first time, as "Manny," and then brought them a short distance to two stinking porta-potties, little plastic booths with flies buzzing around outside and graffiti completely covering them. Manny shoved each of them a plastic bag and told them to get dressed inside.

Manny said, "Boss decided you can have your old clothes back."

Sayu numbly entered one booth, and Light entered the other one a moment later, only looking into his bag once he was inside, trying to ignore the stench rising from the uncleaned cesspool that rose nearly to the toilet seat. Light saw the clothes he'd been wearing when kidnapped, and, after a bit of poking around, his watch. It had happened, just like that? This was so simple. The issue he'd been sweating over for so long had been solved without him needing to do a thing.

He glanced around the dimness of the porta-potty instinctively, searching for any hidden cameras, but saw none. Being under L's suspicion in the past had induced a kind of permanent paranoia in him. Then, Light pulled the knob four times and the little compartment slid out, showing him his scrap of death note and the needle to use as an emergency pen.

Wonderful. All he needed was something he was sure was a real name, and he could certainly put some plan in motion. His captors couldn't possibly suspect they'd actually captured Kira, could they? No, there was no way.

However, crooks everywhere had become very attached to the use of aliases in recent years. There was little chance of getting their real names without the shinigami eyes. Light had always known he'd never trade for those unless he was certain he was in a situation where he had to choose between half a life and no life at all. However, even if such a situation arose in the course of this kidnapping incident, Rem was dead, and no other shinigami was around, so there was no chance of making that trade.

Light silently cursed himself as he got dressed. He didn't expect he'd have to trade for the shinigami eyes, after all he was very resourceful, but he did wish he hadn't killed Rem. He'd discarded her too early, and he hadn't even killed Misa right after Rem's death like he'd originally thought he would. As long as he intended to keep Misa alive, there was no particular reason to get rid of Rem. Even the totally clean alibi she'd provided him for L's death and Watari's death wasn't quite worth killing her; he could have accomplished basically the same thing by controlling Wedy to smuggle cameras inside the investigation center.

Eye deal or not, having a shinigami on his side could have proved useful at a number of points. Rem could have done surveillance work for him or fiddled with evidence, and, at a time like this, she could probably steal keys and bring them to him. Ryuk was almost useless except for very small jobs and, besides, he was still attached to Misa so he couldn't do anything about the kidnappers.

When Light came out of the porta-potty, Manny said, "Light, you speak English, so tell that bitch to behave. I'm gonna take you to a public place downtown and take your picture. Neither of you will go very far from me, or I'll shoot you. I've got a gun on me in a hidden holster."

The man reached into his vest where there didn't even seem to be a bulge, and pulled a small pistol halfway out. He said, "I can draw it in a flash so don't try nothin. Stick together and stay a few steps in front of me at all times unless I say otherwise. If I have to choose only one to shoot, it's you, Light. Girls are better hostages anyway. But I can get new hostages to replace you, so don't think I won't shoot you both. I will. Just one scream, and you're dead."

Light knew Sayu understood English, but her face looked blank and the guy had a horrendous gruff distortion to his speech, so Light repeated the instructions. Inwardly, Light was pissed. This might have been a good opportunity to kill Sayu in the process of escaping himself, but if his captor was gunning for him personally, that kind of escape plan was too risky unless just the right situation presented itself. Light resolved to closely monitor things to see if a get-Sayu-killed-and-escape opportunity presented itself.

Although Light was highly vigilant throughout their trip, there was no such opportunity. If he'd known Manny's real name, yes, there were points at which he could have casually hidden his hands from view and written on the death note paper, but there were no good chances to flee. Manny took them to a public square in what looked like a run-down but not too awful section of town. By this point, Light was certain he was in America in a large city, probably Los Angeles.

Manny casually pointed out a camera mounted high up on a street lamp and told them it was a live web cam. While he stood on a corner out of view but with a good angle for shooting, he had Light and Sayu parade in front of it, making sure they faced the camera so they could be identified easily. When the two siblings returned to him, he quickly pushed them into the back of a van with five scary-looking guys who tied them up and blindfolded them.

_I knew it! It wasn't a one-man kidnapping operation. Why, then, didn't at least two guys watch us during the maneuver we just did? Is it because I'm so slender they think I'm no threat as long as I'm unarmed? Or were the additional guys lurking out of sight the entire time?_

Soon they were being led out of the van, still tied and blindfolded, along a complicated path that included navigating stairs. Light could hear Sayu whimpering the entire time, but the kidnappers said nothing. This was bad. If they'd been schooled to keep quiet and not give away anything, they probably weren't amateurs and that would make them harder to deal with. Still, Light was certain he could outsmart anyone, get out of nearly any situation. As long as they didn't just kill him suddenly because of, for example, an outright refusal by Soichiro, then Light would have some time to get together a plan.

Light found himself and Sayu ushered into a place that, once their blindfolds were removed, turned out to be a holding cell that was exactly like a jail cell. Two cots, one toilet with a partial wall for courtesy, one sink. The floor and two walls were plain, unpainted cement, thick iron bars along two other sides. Sayu immediately sank onto one cot, her face a mask of shock, and curled up facing the wall, wrapping herself in a blanket even though it wasn't cold.

Light took the time to instead study his kidnappers, who arrayed themselves on the other side of the bars as if waiting for something. He would remember their faces. Every single one of them looked like a hardened criminal. Even if these men had never been caught for any crimes, Light was sure they had at least been suspected for some lesser crimes. As L, he would be able to request databases of such people from American law enforcement agencies and scan the photos until he found the right men, and then have Misa kill them with her eyes.

It was really no problem if these guys obtained the death note. Light would later control them into giving it back and dying. They had no idea how much trouble they were in.

In fact, Light now considered that his best possible plan was doing exactly that. If his kidnappers gave him any chance to talk to his dad, he needed to convince him to hand over the death note. It would leave Light alive and able to manipulate the situation perfectly as soon as he got home.

Then, Light heard the unmistakable sound of boots coming down the hallway. From the body language of the guys in front of him, he was sure the leader was arriving. Light's heart speeded up. This guy was the most important one. Light might not be able to control the underlings into returning the death note if he couldn't get the leader too. Also, the leader might be wily enough to not be in any law enforcement databases and to disappear by himself, perhaps killing off his underlings, the moment the death note entered his possession. The leader was the critical person Light absolutely needed to be able to control.

Then the leader strolled into view and Light had to struggle to keep his mouth from falling open. He was a she. A slender, tall woman who looked perhaps nineteen, nothing at all like a crime boss should look. This woman had shoulder-length blonde hair just like Misa, and had a slightly similar taste in clothing, particularly with being loaded down with crosses and favoring black, but everything else about her aura and demeanor was exactly what Misa wasn't. Light found himself getting hard. This was the kind of woman he thought about when he touched himself.

She looked physically and mentally strong, and she was dressed in tight leather pants accentuating narrow hips and a leather vest that looked like it concealed small yet shapely breasts. She unconcernedly brought a bar of chocolate to her lips and bit off a piece as her eyes studied Light.

"Hi. I'm Mello."

When Mello spoke, the illusion shattered. This was definitely a male. Light was shocked at his mistake. Even with that slender physique, he should have guessed from the semi-broad shoulders. But, Light's erection was still as insistent as ever. It hadn't gotten the message. If he could talk with it, he would roll his eyes sarcastically and give it a good scolding, but there was no way to reason with his penis. Unfortunately, he'd always had a thing for men who looked like women. He'd never acted on it. He'd always had reasons not to.

There was too much to do as Kira to have much of a personal life, and it wasn't wise to cheat as long as Misa had a death note. Knowing her, she'd get some hint of it and kill, just like she'd threatened to do with the women he'd dated as cover during his university days, and then perhaps the task force would get suspicious again.

Besides, he'd always told himself that a homosexual relationship wouldn't suit him. It didn't fit his image of himself and he didn't want some male lover letting out the secret. Additionally, he had his doubts about the physical aspects of it. He had no problem with the idea of receiving oral sex and acting as the seme for anal sex, but almost any lover he acquired would want him to perform the opposite roles on occasion, and that sounded gross for oral sex and painful for anal sex. It was easier to just stick with women so the body parts were more compatible. But, still, his erection didn't listen to his brain.

Light replied, "I'm sure you know I'm Light Yagami."

Mello said, "Your father has already been contacted with our request for ransom. The first time he didn't believe we really had you two, so we pulled that stunt with the web cam and now he does, but he's resisting. He doesn't want to hand over the murder notebook to criminals. We're going to pressure him."

Mello shoved a sheaf of paper through the bars and said, "I thought you might like the full information about what we'll do."

Light looked at what he held. A bunch of pages held together by staples in the corner. The entire thing was messy, and the first page simply said, "Title: What You Will Do."

Light opened to the next page. It looked like a script, describing a scene between two people, one designated "rapist" and the other designated "victim." Light scanned it with a sick feeling in his stomach and noticed immediately that it was kinky. There was an enema involved, along with lots of role-playing with dominant/submissive behavior, the victim referring to the rapist as "master" and begging to be violated.

Light was sure his face must have looked incredibly shocked, because all the criminals surrounding Mello began to laugh.

With a wave of his hand, Mello quieted them and said, "Light, I'm going to give you and your sister a few choices. Tonight, you'll talk with her and decide together which one of you is going to get raped. Then the victim will choose a rapist from my men and myself. If you don't make a decision, I'll choose for you. The resulting video will be sent to your father. I'm sure he'll send the murder notebook and, if he doesn't, we'll just keep making more videos and sending them."

Light could hear Sayu crying behind him, but he didn't look back. He kept his eyes on Mello.

Mello said, "If you try anything weird, we'll kill you. Try to get some rest while you can."

Then, with another casual bite of his chocolate bar, he smiled, a demonic sort of smile, and after one last glance at Light and Sayu, walked away with his men following behind.

Light thought furiously. The idea of being raped was not important. The important thing was to win. Mello was the biggest problem in all this. He didn't look anything like a crime boss should look, and Light had the feeling that Mello's photo might not be in any law enforcement databases.

Light needed to guarantee he could get a photo of Mello in front of Misa's eyes. The sex video was a way to do it. Mello had given him a situation that could be exploited almost perfectly for that purpose. Light needed to either select Mello himself or make sure Sayu selected Mello.

Light wasn't sure he could convince Sayu to select Mello, especially in her stunned mental state, and he could see the surveillance camera watching the cell and he thought it might be suspicious if the criminals saw him trying to convince his sister to select Mello. If his sister was getting raped, why should he think one man was a better choice?

So, he should probably volunteer to be the victim himself. He could easily pass it off as protecting his sister. Additionally, there was another issue. There was a chance Soichiro might destroy the video, and Light needed to make sure that didn't happen.

Light knew his father. If it were Sayu getting raped, Soichiro would be likely to destroy the video in a fit of rage and shame, even though it was evidence that might help to convict the criminals. He was much more protective of his daughter than his son. Also, if it was obviously rape, of either Sayu or Light, there was a chance of provoking the same reaction and thus causing destruction of the video.

The best way to make sure the video survived long enough for Misa's eyes to see Mello's identity was for the video to involve Light, and for it to look as if Light were enjoying himself. Soichiro would still be immensely sickened, but he'd be more likely to act rationally and preserve the video in that case.

Yes, Light would be the "victim" and everything would work out exactly as planned. With that decision made, Light almost wanted to smile, but he put a traumatized expression on his face and went over to his sister to comfort her and act exactly like a worried brother should in this situation.

Light put his hands on Sayu's shoulders and said, "Don't worry. I'll protect you. They'll never touch you, because I'll volunteer for the rape. Please stop crying, Sayu."

Sayu's sobs became slightly quieter, but other than that she didn't react or say anything. After holding Sayu's shoulders for the exact amount of time Light judged was suitable for the situation, he moved over to his own cot and drifted off to sleep.

* * *

**A/N (Author's Note):**

Next chapter is a short one from Mello's point of view. We get to find out what Mello was actually up to with the weird things he did.

I feel sorry for poor Sayu in this. Her serial killer brother is guilt-tripping her.

And he's thinking misogynistic thoughts.


	4. Kitty

**CHAPTER 4: Kitty**

Mello smiled as he thought about how smoothly everything was going. Light and Sayu were about to arrive, completely unaware that some tremendous clues had fallen right into Mello's hands in the time since they'd been kidnapped. Light's things had been sent ahead on a faster plane, and Mello already had looked at the watch with the secret compartment. It was simple, really. This model of watch had a storage space for an extra battery. After looking up information about that model, Mello had checked the compartment and found the scrap of paper and a needle.

He'd guessed at once that he was probably looking at a scrap of paper from the murder notebook. To test it, he used a special pencil that could be erased without leaving the slightest erasure mark on the paper. The victim had died of a heart attack immediately. Mello had it all documented on video. When he erased the name from the paper he almost wondered if the victim's heart would start beating again, but it didn't happen.

The scrap of paper didn't surprise him. This meant that a piece of the murder notebook worked as well as the entire thing. Mello knew that it might be standard practice for all the investigation team members to carry around a hidden scrap. It was an excellent, unexpected weapon, and since Kira might target them, they needed all the help they could get. That Light would carry such a scrap was evidence that he was on the investigation team, but unfortunately it didn't prove anything else.

No, it wasn't the existence of the scrap that had made Mello suspect Light might be Kira. The scrap was simply another piece of the puzzle, a puzzle that was gradually filling in and beginning to look like Kira. A few other things had earlier caused much more suspicion. As soon as Light and Sayu were safely started on the 12-hour flight across the Pacific Ocean, Mello had called Soichiro Yagami. He remembered the conversation well.

Mello had called when his contacts were sure Soichiro was at work, so the whole investigation team should be there.

As soon as Soichiro answered, Mello said, "Kanichi Takimura is dead, but we have new hostages. If you want to see your daughter and son alive again, you will hand over the murder notebook."

Soichiro answered, "How do I know you really have them?"

Mello said, "They've been missing for three hours, but we can also send you video from a live webcam on a public street corner after they arrive at their destination. We will send information on that webcam exactly two minutes before your daughter and son walk by it, and if we see any cops approaching, undercover or otherwise, both your kids will die. Now, I would like to talk to L. Otherwise, I'll send my men orders to kill your daughter immediately."

Mello could half-hear some low conversations in the background. It sounded as if the other investigators were trying to contact Light and Sayu on other phones.

With a trembling voice, Soichiro said, "I'll put him on."

In the next moment, Mello heard L's electronic voice modulator say, "We will not negotiate with kidnappers unless you give us clear information. Nothing more can be done until we know you truly have the hostages."

Mello felt a stab at his heart at hearing the imposter, but he simply said, "That's a bold statement, coming from a fake L. Who are you really?"

The modulated voice said, "I'm sorry! We couldn't put on the real L because he was kidnapped!"

A voice in the background said, "Mogi! Now he'll kill Light and Sayu!"

Then another background voice said, "Shut up, Matsuda."

Mello said, "I doubt Kanzo Mogi has played the fake L very often. You say I kidnapped the real L?"

Soichiro's voice came back on and said, "Yes, my son is the real L. If you wish to speak with him, you have him already."

That was interesting. Light Yagami had assumed L's identity upon L's death. Mello knew he needed more information about this.

Mello said, "I think you should tell me the whole truth about Light Yagami."

Soichiro replied, "What do you mean?"

Mello replied, "Don't play dumb. Light isn't the real L."

Soichiro said, "I know my son seems too young to be L, but he's the top-scoring genius in Japan. You can look up this fact easily. He is L."

Mello said, "L is dead. The current L is an imposter."

Soichiro's voice stuttered, "H-how... how do you know this?"

Mello smiled. Bingo. Now they would admit the truth with no more attempts at deceit.

Mello said, "We have better sources than you think. Just tell us the full story with no lies."

Soichiro replied, "After L saw the kind of genius my son was, he invited him to join the Kira task force. Together, they were able to catch the first Kira, but L died shortly afterwards. He actually died in my son's arms. They were great friends, and before L's death, L had asked my son to be his successor. My son is the now the real L, because he is L's legitimate heir."

In an even, angry voice, Mello said, "Describe the original L's appearance."

Soichiro gave a long, detailed description, including even L's unique mannerisms, and Mello had to admit to himself that Soichiro Yagami had certainly met the real L.

Mello had wanted to throw the phone across the room and scream, but he'd held himself together enough to get through the rest of the call, promising to contact the Kira task force again later with instructions for obtaining the webcam proof.

Yes, that conversation had been the first bit of evidence that made Mello think Light might be Kira. Mello knew that L never showed his face to the people he worked with, except, on rare occasions, if he was impersonating someone other than L.

For L to show his face without pretending to be someone else suggested that he was using himself as bait to draw Kira close to the investigation team. It was the only thing that really made sense. Had Kira indeed become close to the task force? It was hard to say, but if L had died from some cause other than Higuchi, that cause could easily be Light.

Another problem was that Mello was almost completely sure that L would never name another successor without informing Roger Ruvie of it. It was true that L did things in unorthodox ways, but naming another successor out of nowhere just didn't seem like L. Mello tried to examine his own feelings. Was it just his own pride and jealousy at being shoved aside that made him think so?

He couldn't be absolutely sure, but there were protocols to follow. If L had suggested Light as a possible successor, then it had probably been a test of some kind. Was it a test to see if Light was Kira? Mello wasn't sure. L liked to test everyone around him. It could be a test to see if Light was Kira, or it could be some other kind of test.

The next piece of evidence came five hours after Mello's conversation with Soichiro, and it was far more damning, but it also suggested that if Light were Kira, there was still an additional Kira out there. The elimination of Higuchi had not destroyed one Kira out of two, but one out of three.

Sakura TV broadcast another Kira video. Along with killing a few people as a demonstration to prove it was certainly from someone with Kira's power, the video announced that the first Kira had been kidnapped by criminals, and that if Kira were returned unharmed within a week, there would be no attempts to track down the kidnappers and furthermore all criminal executions would cease for one year as a reward.

Mello knew there was very little chance that Kira and Light Yagami would both get kidnapped at the same time. It didn't prove anything, but it was too far-fetched to really be a coincidence. But, with this message, it also meant that, if Light Yagami were Kira, it might be through acting in tandem with the Kira who sent the video. Light might not own a notebook himself.

Thus, Light had to be caught using Kira's power himself or giving orders to someone with Kira's power in order to prove his guilt. Having highly suspicious pieces of evidence wasn't enough; it didn't constitute proof. Perhaps L had run into the same problem. No matter how many clues pointed to a Kira suspect, you had to catch Kira in the act or it didn't mean anything.

Then, after finding out about the Kira video on Sakura TV, the arrival of Light's things had brought an additional piece of evidence when the scrap of paper was revealed. Mello knew he could use it to perform a test. He'd sent orders to the plane carrying Light and Sayu, having it fly in circles until he'd conducted the test on the scrap of paper and had set up the perfect scenario to test Light.

Mello arranged for Light to get his stuff back, with the scrap of paper placed once again inside the compartment in the watch. Then, Mello had sent only one guy to remove Light and Sayu from the shipping container and take them on the webcam mission. The hidden camera inside the porta-potty had shown Light opening the secret compartment and checking the scrap, but he hadn't killed the guy introduced to him as "Manny."

There had been additional chances for Light to use the scrap of paper later on during the trip, but he hadn't. Being watched by only one kidnapper had been the perfect chance to kill that guy and escape. That meant Light didn't have the power to kill by merely seeing a face.

Mello wasn't sure how that power worked with the murder notebook. Did you draw a person's face in the notebook to kill, or did you somehow know their name from seeing their face? However it worked, Light didn't have that ability, and so it was safe for Mello to appear face-to-face with Light.

Mello had pondered the problem of how to prove Light's guilt while "Manny" and the kidnappers took Light and Sayu through the city toward the place where they'd be held captive. Mello knew that the other Kira had the power to kill with only a face. If Mello could give Light the photo of someone who's identity could not be obtained in any other way, and that person died, it would prove that Light was working in partnership with the Kira who could kill with a face alone.

Mello knew there was only one person he could use who met those criteria. Himself. There was no information about his identity anywhere, and the only photo of himself that existed was in Near's hands. If Mello could give Light a reason to kill him and then sent a photo or video where Light would get it, and afterwards Mello died, it would be proof. In that case, there would be no doubt that Light was giving orders to the second Kira, which would make him Kira, especially when taken together with the other highly suspicious clues.

Before Light and Sayu arrived at their final destination, Mello had developed the perfect plan to put a video of himself in Light's hands without Light getting suspicious about it. He'd even give Light some choices about it. If Light were Kira, with his intelligence and the determination Kira had shown, he would find a way to choose Mello for the video regardless if he chose for himself to be raped or his sister to be raped. It was only logical to get the leader's photo. If Light weren't Kira, he'd choose randomly or let his sister choose randomly.

Mello typed up the script for the rape video, filling it full of humiliation. Light would really want to kill him after that kind of humiliation, and Light deserved all of it and worse for being Kira and murdering L. Then Mello gathered together all the video evidence along with the recorded phone call with Soichiro and then wrote out full descriptions of his theories and plans, putting it all into a package. He wrote a letter to Near and included it in the package:

_Near, you cheating, emotionless shit-faced bastard._

_I've essentially caught Kira. Most of the evidence is in this package and I'll send the rest if I survive long enough. In any case, if I die, what I've sent in this package should be enough proof to allow you to convict Kira._

_How does it feel to lose? How does it feel to have me beat you? To know that I'm the one who was fast enough, brave enough, and smart enough to finish the case that killed L, and I did it before you even got a proper start?_

_Yes, I'm willing to die to win this case. I'm sure L was willing to die too, or he wouldn't have taken such risks._

_Near, I'm sure you're too much of a coward to risk your life. You're just a self-important little twit. You aren't like L at all._

_I don't care whether anyone else but you realizes that I'm the one who really caught Kira. Go ahead; take the credit if you want. The only thing I care about is that you know. You'll know I beat you, and you'll have it rubbed in your face every day of your life. If you take L's title, remember me and my victory every time someone calls you "L" because you'll know that I'm the one who really deserves it._

_I'll be wearing a GPS tracker at all times as soon as I put the video into Light's hands, and I've included information in this package on how to access that particular tracker. If the unit is destroyed or stays in the same place too long, assume that Kira has killed me or that Kira controlled me to remove it or destroy it._

_Sincerely,_

_The one who truly deserves to be called "L" if anyone does,_

_Mello_

As Mello finished sealing the package and sent it off, he had an incredible feeling buzzing through him, like nothing he'd ever felt before, of adrenaline, excitement and sweet, sweet revenge, all mixed together at once. What could be better than getting revenge on Near and Kira at the same time? It was completely worth dying for.

Mello knew it was better to go out in a blaze of glory than to spend all your time crouched on the floor, afraid of the world, playing with toys. Near could have his safe, sterile, little world. Mello wanted a world that mattered, with big risks and big rewards.

L had known the worth of big, bold moves. Mello knew he was following in L's footsteps. Nothing Near could do would ever compare to this. Mello was getting hard just thinking about it. He tried to imagine the look on Near's face when the package arrived. And, after that, there would be the sex video or videos. That would shock Near out of his emotionless stupor, make his eyes widen in shock. Mello wished he could see it.

Perhaps, if he asked Halle, she could make a little video of Near's reaction and sneak it out, but that was probably too much to hope for. With Kira loose, the SPK had extremely high security about any sort of photo or video.

Mello leaned back in his chair and snapped off a piece of his chocolate, chewing it thoughtfully, a mean look in his eyes.

To the empty room, he said, "Too bad you don't have any balls, Near, or you might have reached this point before me. I'm already ninety percent of the way to proving Light Yagami is Kira. Kira has been kidnapped, Light has been kidnapped. Both Kira and Light are connected to the Japanese police. It doesn't take a genius to draw the connection. I only wish I could have had a bit more challenge. Perhaps the Japanese Kira investigation team is too stupid to see it, or perhaps they're on Kira's payroll. In any case, Light is getting defeated. He's going to return home to a total shitstorm."

Then, Mello got up, grabbed a copy of the rape script and hastily stapled it together. He went to Light's cell and talked with him just long enough to let him know about the deal for the rape video, and lied about Soichiro Yagami denying their request for the murder notebook after the webcam incident. In reality, they hadn't contacted Soichiro at all since then. Mello didn't want to risk that Soichiro might give in without the pressure produced by the rape video.

During the night, Mello observed Light telling his sister that he'd volunteer for the rape himself. Light's actions were all carefully controlled, seeming like acting. Mello was sure Light knew there were cameras watching his every move.

The next morning, Mello came to the cell with all his men and said, "Have you decided?"

Light said, "I will be the victim, and I choose you, Mello."

Sayu let out a choked sob, but didn't say anything.

Mello thought he saw the slightest glimmer of victory in Light's eyes. This was good.

Mello said, "Did you memorize the script yet, or do you need a couple more hours?"

"I've memorized it."

Mello smiled. He said, "Improv is fine, especially for me, but if you deviate from the script much, I'll tie you to the rack and get out the whips. I might even leave scars. If your father keeps resisting after this video, the rapes will get progressively uglier. Today things will be... fairly tame... if you know what I mean. You're my tame little pussy, and I won't hurt you too badly as long as you behave."

Light said, "Meow."

While several burly men stood by with weapons, and three others lifted video cameras to start filming the action, Mello unlocked the holding cell. Light stepped out and bent his neck forward in front of Mello. Mello took out a leather collar with a bell and a toy mouse attached to it and fastened it around Light's neck.

Mello said, "Light, what is my name?"

Light replied, "Master."

Mello said, "Kitty, play with your toys."

Light used his hands to bat back and forth at the bell and the mouse dangling from his collar, and then squeezed the mouse, producing a squeak.

Mello said, "Light, you're a very dirty kitty. We're going to take you to another room and clean you up, and then we'll punish you."

Mello snapped a leash onto Light's collar and pushed him down. Light got on all fours, and as Mello walked down the hallway, surrounded by armed guards and cameramen, Light crawled along at the end of the leash and let out meows at intervals.

Mello smiled as he ate the last bite of his chocolate bar, crumpled up the wrapper, and threw it on the floor. This was going to be a lot of fun, and it was possibly the last bit of real fun he'd ever have. Mello decided he would do everything he could to make it count.

* * *

**A/N (Author's Note):**

Well, Mello has been doing a lot of plotting unknownst to Light. Mello has set a giant trap for Light, using his intelligence, something that wasn't shown much in canon. Mostly, Mello just kidnapped people while Near did the careful planning.

And, Misa did turn out to be the giant liability that she really should have been in canon. Within hours of Misa being informed of Light's kidnapping, the second Kira announces the first Kira has been kidnapped.

Are the task force members now suspicious, or do they still believe the 13-day rule? If they are suspicious, will Light be able to talk his way out of the situation once he gets home?

And, yes, the lemon is nearly here. Next chapter, obviously!


	5. Video

**CHAPTER 5: Video**

When Light woke up in the holding cell in the morning, Sayu was a frightened cocoon, sitting on her cot with her knees drawn up to her chest and her blankets wrapped around and around her. Her eyes were very wide and haunted. That posture... those eyes... Light was reminded of _him_, of L. _His_ eyes had looked like that before they closed for the last time. This whole kidnapping experience kept bringing up memories of L for some reason.

Light pushed thoughts of L out of his head and picked up the rape script from where he'd thrown it on the floor the previous night. Light paged through it, easily memorizing it. There was a reason why he tended to get perfect scores on exams. Not only was he a genius, he could also memorize tons of facts all at once, and certain exams were little more than regurgitated information.

Once he'd gone through the rape script and carefully committed it to memory, he placed it under his cot. Mello was creative and kinky; he had to give him credit for that. And, thinking so far ahead as to write out a script, there was something admirable about it. Most rapists didn't write out a script for their victims to follow.

Light could barely keep the smile off his face to fool the surveillance cameras. Him, a victim? Mello was the one who was the real victim here. Mello thought he'd have some fun sending a threatening rape video to Soichiro, but in reality he'd be doomed as soon as Misa saw his face. Light was momentarily troubled. Was there a chance that Misa would do something stupid like just killing Mello in the heat of revenge without controlling him into giving back the death note?

No, she was impulsive and impatient, especially when it came to himself, but she had some sense. She wouldn't risk her precious Light because she was too eager to punish his enemies. But, then, Light was remembering about when both their lives had been at risk shortly after they met. She'd come back for a visit two days later instead of two weeks, against orders, even though Light had clearly warned her about the extreme danger involved, and that was the thing that had likely led to her being arrested by L and nearly got both of them killed.

Mogi had been watching, and then they'd searched Misa's apartment and found the physical evidence to link her to the Kira videos. Misa occasionally took suicidal risks without a good reason.

No, even if Misa might do something that stupid, Light was sure the task force members would never let Misa see the video and they'd be smart enough to put it where she couldn't just steal it. Misa wouldn't see Mello's face until Light was there to make sure the controlled death would be done perfectly. There would be no problems. Everything would go exactly as planned. The only thing that could possibly go wrong was if Mello decided to blur out his face on the video, but if Mello did that and if Mello's photo really wasn't in any law enforcement databases, there were other plans that could be used. They would take longer but-

Sayu said, "Light, I'm sorry. I'm such a coward. I'm sorry, but I'm afraid. What... what you're doing, you're a hero. You've always been a hero to me, and I've been mean to you. I've been a horrible sister. I've ignored you a lot. You work so hard and risk your life over and over, but I don't appreciate it."

Sayu rubbed one fist under her eyes, wiping away the tears that were silently collecting there.

In a gentle voice, Light said, "Shhhh, Sayu. It'll all be okay. I'll protect you, and I'll keep protecting you. Don't worry about anything."

Light wondered what Sayu would think if she knew he'd been contemplating murdering her a short time ago. She'd be revolted, he knew. Her current sentiments were better. This captivity would teach Sayu a wonderful lesson. After this, Sayu would be shamed into forever acknowledging the kind of hero he really was. Sayu wouldn't know the truth, the real ways and methods by which he was a hero, but she'd be forced to give him the respect he deserved anyway.

The world was rotten, and it needed to be cleansed. Kira the savior was the only one both smart enough and powerful enough to do it. Light was willing to sacrifice anything, anyone, in order to reach his goal. And, it felt good to have someone close to him realize he was a great hero, even if for the wrong reasons.

Light knew he'd never let Sayu forget the sacrifice he'd made here. He'd rub it in her face for the rest of her life. She would never ignore him again, and she would always be nice and subservient and compliant. It would be-

Then, Light heard the sound of many feet approaching along the hallway, and he knew the time was at hand. Conflicting emotions swirled within him. He was a bit sick with adrenaline and horrid anticipation, but he also had the idea tickling the back of his mind that this was a chance to be naughty, to try out his secret urge to be with a man who looked like a woman. After putting up with Misa for years, Light deserved a little sexual wandering, and this way he could do it without worrying about Misa doing something stupid to take revenge.

As Mello and his men were lining up on the other side of the bars, evil smirks on all their faces, Light took his chance to study Mello. This was the important enemy, the one who would need to be completely subdued. Light needed to get as much information as possible. If he could anticipate Mello's thinking process, that would be an advantage.

There was something hard in Mello's eyes, something defiant and completely badass, but it was a different kind of hard look than the criminals surrounding Mello. Somehow, Mello didn't seem like a criminal at all but rather like someone concerned with justice, a good guy who was willing to go to any extremes, no matter how dark and tainted those methods might be. A man, Light felt, like himself.

But, no, you couldn't really read that much just from people's eyes, could you? Light tried to shake off his impression. It was illogical. He really knew nothing about Mello, except that he was a crime boss. That made him a criminal, just like all the others.

Light only needed to understand how intelligent Mello might be and whether he might make any unexpected moves. Judging Mello's morality wasn't something that needed to be thought about. It was simple. Mello deserved to die because he was a criminal and because he'd opposed the god of the new world. Even the good guys deserved death if they opposed Kira. L, the FBI investigators, and even, if they got in the way, Light's own family. It was a matter of right and wrong, sin and punishment. Anyone who obstructed the developing utopia was evil.

All the thoughts about Mello only took a few seconds to flit through Light's mind, and then Mello was saying, "Have you decided?"

Light said, "I will be the victim, and I choose you, Mello."

Sayu let out a choked sob at Light's words, but Mello looked satisfied, smug even. He was eating chocolate again, and he had a look in his eyes, an "exactly as planned" look. Light tried to show Mello an expression indicating a determined brother who was saving his sister from rape, but deep down, he had exactly the same feeling. Mello had fallen into his trap perfectly. Looking girly like he did, Mello probably had certain tendencies. Perhaps he'd been hoping for this all along, for the pretty-boy to volunteer himself for the rape.

Mello said, "Did you memorize the script yet, or do you need a couple more hours?"

Light replied, "I've memorized it."

Mello smiled and said, "Improv is fine, especially for me, but if you deviate from the script much, I'll tie you to the rack and get out the whips. I might even leave scars. If your father keeps resisting after this video, the rapes will get progressively uglier. Today things will be... fairly tame... if you know what I mean. You're my tame little pussy, and I won't hurt you too badly as long as you behave."

Light remembered this part. They were starting already. Mello was a kinky bastard.

Light said, "Meow."

The men surrounding Mello were all tall, muscular and rough-looking, most carrying weapons. Three of them were already hoisting video cameras, beginning to film the action, getting a bit of Sayu's pale, shocked face in the background. Tears were silently running down her cheeks, leaving wet trails. Mello stepped forward, unlocking the holding cell and then passing the key to one of his men so he could focus his full attention on Light as Light stepped out. Light immediately bowed his head, holding out his neck as Mello fastened a collar around it. Light could feel the slight swaying weight of the bell and the toy mouse that were dangling from the collar.

Mello said, "Light, what is my name?"

Light's gut twisted to say it, but he replied, "Master."

Yes, this guy would soon find out who the real master was. Light would bide his time, and after he had Mello's name written down, maybe he'd even play with him for a time, maybe he'd whisper "I'm Kira" in Mello's ear moments before his death, as he'd done with a few other controlled victims. There was nothing so delicious as that moment of doom, being able to gloat over fallen rivals or enemies.

Mello said, "Kitty, play with your toys."

Light playfully batted at the bell and mouse attached to his collar, keeping his fingers stiff like cat paws. Then he squeezed the toy mouse and it let out a shrill squeak. Oh, God. Mello was a freak.

Mello said, "Light, you're a very dirty kitty. We're going to take you to another room and clean you up, and then we'll punish you."

Light had to be docile and let Mello snap a leash onto his collar and push him down to crawl on the floor. Mello started down the hallway and Light crawled at his side, while the armed guards and cameramen kept pace and made little sounds of derision. Mello finished his chocolate and Light saw the crumpled wrapper tossed down, skittering and bouncing across the floor and then coming to rest against the wall.

Light remembered then. He'd better stay in character. So, he meowed at intervals, and made the mouse squeak a few times as he crawled along at the end of the leash. The trip wasn't long, but Light's knees were already getting slightly sore from the hard floor, and he could tell his suit was getting scuffed and dirty.

At the end of the hallway, they reached a large room that looked like a communal shower, with dozens of shower-heads spaced closely along two of the walls with no privacy dividers or stalls at all; it was completely open. The walls and the floor were entirely made of concrete, and the floor had a subtle slope leading to a central drain.

Quite a number of metal hooks were on the walls, most of them rusty and tarnished. In one corner, there was a broken-looking dresser with the paint peeling off, looking as if the showers had been run on it a few times. In another corner, there were a couple of toilets sitting out in the open, without even a partial wall to block them off from sight.

Light crawled in the direction of the dresser, and just then, Mello kicked him in the ribs and said, "Kitties don't wear any clothing. Take it off."

Light sat down on the floor - the script had made it clear that standing would be punished - and shrugged out of his suit jacket, and then began unbuttoning his shirt. Mello watched almost hungrily, so Light made a little show of the unbuttoning process, meowing a couple of times during it and pausing halfway through to lick the back of his hand in a cat-like manner. After he peeled his shirt off and flung it on the floor, he rolled onto his back and kicked off his shoes, then pulled off his socks.

Mello leaned over, getting a good look for the main part of the show. Light pulled down his trousers slowly, exposing pale blue boxers, and then paused. He knew what happened now.

Mello nudged his ribs with the toe of a boot and said, "What's the matter? Is the cat ashamed to show me his cock?"

Several of the men standing around laughed. Light wondered if they'd read the script, or if they thought this was Light's own decision.

Light placed both hands over his crotch and said, "I'm scared, Mr. Rapist."

Mello kicked him hard in the ribs, enough to knock the air out of his lungs, and said, "Strip for me."

"No, Master."

Mello placed a boot on Light's neck and pressed down, grinding slightly back and forth. It didn't cut off the airflow entirely, but Light was finding it hard to breathe.

Mello said, "I'm going to rape you, and I'll make you like it. I'll have you coming so hard, just for me. Now, show me how happy you are. Take everything off and play with yourself."

Light felt a blush burning on his face. He was already half-hard, and he didn't want Mello to see. Maybe, just maybe, the voluminous folds of the boxers had concealed it so far. Mello immediately noticed the blush and leaned down further, placing one hand, clad in a fingerless leather glove, on Light's small bulge.

Mello rubbed gently on the outside of the fabric, and Light's bulge grew underneath Mello's attentions, his face blushing more furiously.

Mello flashed him an amused glance and said, "You're really cute, you know that? Now, take them off and play with yourself."

Light was breathing faster, and he slowly pulled off his boxers, exposing his now-full erection. Then he took a deep breath and began rubbing himself, looking into Mello's eyes the whole time. A little bit of pre-cum dribbled out of the tip, and Light rubbed it around on the head of his penis with his thumb, making it slick and increasing the good sensations.

One of the mafia guys said, "You sure can pick them, Mello. This pretty boy is just begging to be raped."

Mello stood up and gave Light a small kick into the bruise he'd previously made on the side of his ribs, and said, "Oh, he'll beg pretty soon. He wants it."

Light looked up and saw a hard, bitter expression in Mello's eyes, almost mournful. He continued rubbing himself lightly, using stroking teases that made him want to moan and press harder and really go to work, but he didn't because he knew he wasn't allowed to come at this point in the script. There was no point in getting too worked up quite yet.

Then, in a soft, even tone, almost a whisper, Mello said, "You're a dirty, shameless kitty. Look at you, playing with yourself in front of everybody, and you got hard so fast. Who knows what kind of filth you have inside you? I'm going to make sure you get completely clean."

Light stopped pleasuring himself, rolled onto his stomach and then crawled over to the dresser. He opened the third drawer and found an enema bag, hosing, a tube of lubricant and some towels. Light rose to his knees, as close as he was allowed to get to a standing position, and hung the enema bag from a hook on the wall.

A mafia guy entered the room at that time with a large pitcher and began pouring it in the top of the enema bag. Light let a bit of water flow out the hose to make sure there wouldn't be any air bubbles, and then closed the nozzle at the end of the hose and coated it with lubricant.

Light lay down on his side and began pushing the tip of the nozzle into himself. It felt good, especially when he was already hard, and he had a momentary urge to fuck himself with the nozzle, to push it in and out. Instead, he merely pushed it in a few inches, clamped down on it with his muscles to keep it from slipping out, and slowly turned on the valve. The warm water flowing into him felt funny and slightly sickening and arousing all at the same time.

He rubbed his abdomen, trying to move the water inside, to spread it around, but it still felt so very odd, wrong and right and just plain weird all at once. Light had experienced enemas a few times, but it had been years and he'd mostly forgotten what it felt like. Very quickly, he was feeling quite uncomfortable, extremely full inside. He shifted on the towels nervously and used the valve to slow down the rate of flow, but the bloated feeling continued getting stronger and stronger.

Soon the urge to expel was almost uncontrollable. Light turned off the valve and carefully withdrew it, keeping his butt muscles tight to hold everything in. His eyes darted to Mello to see if he'd be allowed to release yet, but Mello simply placed a boot on his neck and said, "You can take it."

Light lay there on his side, on towels on the cement floor, surrounded by complete strangers with video cameras and weapons. All the faces looking down at him were leering. Light knew his father and the task force members would see this. Well, perhaps they'd be too sickened to see all of it. Somehow, it felt more shameful for them to see this part than the actual rape. Light was blushing again and then sweating and he wriggled uncomfortably, the smooth weight of Mello's boot still pressing down on his neck.

Light looked up at Mello's face and saw no mercy there, but Light needed, he truly, desperately, needed to let it out. It was uncomfortable, an intense pressure on the border of pain, and he couldn't help but constantly make slight shifts in his position, his bloated abdomen practically sloshing with each movement.

Light said, "Master, please. I need to use the toilet."

Mello pressed down hard on Light's neck one more time, then removed his boot and nodded. Light crawled in the direction of the nearest toilet, his face burning in shame once again. What was this? It was only using the toilet. Something he'd done in front of others before, even though he preferred not to. It wasn't a big deal. Having it filmed by a bunch of strangers and sent to his father was something he should be worrying less about than the rape itself. But, somehow, it was this that seemed like a big deal, not the event that would happen soon after.

_I just have to get through this. Keep crawling. I can hold it in. I'm not going to soil the floor._

With a groan, Light reached the toilet and flung himself onto the seat, letting go an instant later.

_Oh, God_. Everything flowing out of him, all at once, a nauseating rush of liquid. It seemed like far too much, more than could have possibly been inside him. Light closed his eyes as it happened, not wanting to look at the faces around him. When it was over, he opened his eyes to see the next part, what he knew was coming.

Mello already had it prepared. Mello was holding something like a sponge on the end of a long stick, and he had a bucket of extremely soapy water, the suds overflowing onto the floor.

Light crawled over there, and Mello turned on a shower, spraying water down onto Light that was at first ice cold but then quickly became quite warm.

Mello said, "I still think you're dirty. You're a dirty little whore, aren't you?"

Light said, "I'm filthy. I need to be cleaned."

Mello plunged the sponge-on-a-stick into the mop bucket of soapy water, and then began scrubbing Light. Light crouched there patiently, watching the trail of suds and water work complex, ropy braided patterns on their journey to the drain. Mello was extremely thorough, scrubbing every last inch of skin until it was pink and felt slightly abraded, and he made Light spread his legs and roll around for special attention from every angle to all the private areas.

Light was getting very hard again, almost painfully aroused from all the attention. When Mello concentrated on his dick and balls and the perineum area, getting into every nook and scrubbing hard, Light had to hold himself back from coming. That wet, soapy sponge felt so slippery and good, but he didn't want the punishment. Coming at a time not allowed by the script... that was bad.

When Mello was finally satisfied, all of Light's skin was tingling and just a bit sore. Mello left Light under the shower long enough to wash away every last trace of soap, and then he snapped the leash onto Light's collar and took him to a big industrial dryer, where hot air came up through a grate in the floor and from each side at the same time. It was a burning-hot wind, battering at Light's body with considerable force, and it made his skin tingle more than ever.

Light knew what was coming next. The kitchen scene. He dutifully followed Mello down yet another hallway, meowing at intervals, and into a kitchen. Mello got out a cat bowl and placed it on the floor, then got some milk from a refrigerator and poured it in.

"Kitty, drink your milk!"

Light meowed and crawled over to the bowl, then leaned down, putting his mouth on the surface and drinking. When he had half emptied it, Mello poured more in, but spilled some on his boots.

Mello angrily said, "Look what you made me do!"

Light said, "Master, I'm sorry. I'll fix it."

Light eyed Mello's boots. They were shiny and clean, almost abnormally so, as if they were completely new boots that had been removed from a store shelf only minutes ago. That was a relief.

Light licked the milk off, slowly and sensuously, getting every drop. Then he gazed upward seductively and said, "Master, I like licking your boots. Spill some more just for me."

Mello said, "You perverted cat! You're always so horny, but I won't give in. It's time for you to go to sleep."

Mello pulled on the leash, taking Light into a carpeted room like a large living room with most of the furniture taken away. It was mostly empty, just a couple of couches, one chair, and a giant version of a cat bed located in the center.

Light wondered if it were actually a bed for large dogs, such as Great Danes, but it looked very feline. It was like a huge circular cushion with a padded fabric wall rimming most of its edge, and it was pink, with attached bows, bells, and embroidered stylized cats. Any dog would be ashamed to sleep there. Light crawled over to it and inside, curling up in a cat-position. He felt weirdly like L. That's how _he_ always slept.

Mello said, "Kitty, go to sleep. You're a bad kitty!"

"No! I won't! Master, I want something."

"Light, are you a horny kitty?"

Light smiled sweetly and said, "Master, I want you to rape me. I want you to take me hard, shove your penis into me, and make me come all over your hands."

"No! You're sick!"

"Master, I want it. I want you to violate me. I need it! I need your hot penis inside me!"

"No!"

"Fuck me. Fuck me hard, until I'm screaming. Rape me, and force me to like it."

All the mafia guys were snickering at the dialogue.

Mello said, "Light, tell me you're my rape toy."

"I'm your rape toy. You can do whatever you want with me."

"What if I go away?"

Mello turned as if to leave.

Light said, "Master, no! Please don't leave me like this! Please have mercy! I'm so horny I can't stand it! Rape me until you're completely satisfied! Please, please, please!"

Mello turned back with a smirk, and then tossed Light a vibrator and a tube of lubricant, saying, "Do a good job of preparing yourself. Otherwise it's gonna hurt like hell."

Light coated the vibrator with plenty of lube, and then turned it on. He'd tried similar, but smaller, devices in the past, and he'd had mixed feelings about the results. They were pleasurable, but he always felt weird about putting things in _there_.

Eventually, he'd been forced to throw them away because Misa kept finding them and accusing him of being hornier than the frequency of their sexual encounters would otherwise suggest. It was just too much trouble.

Light pressed the tip of the vibrator at his entrance. The lube was cold, so at first it was a shock, but the vibrations, they felt extremely nice and were loosening him up in no time. The tight ring of muscle was opening, and then he was pressing the vibrator further in. It really was a tight fit, and he had to stop several times, working it in and out, forcibly relaxing inside.

Light was getting hard again, without even touching his dick, and he felt the urge to look at Mello's face while he did this. Light blocked out the faces of the other men and gazed just at Mello, looking at his girlish blond hair, the leather, oh so much leather, and the long, slender legs. Mello had a way of leaning his weight on one leg and splaying the other slightly outward, and it was incredibly erotic.

The vibrator was slipping in and out easily now, and Light fucked himself with it harder and faster. Then Mello was approaching, getting into the giant cat bed, and he forced Light onto all fours in front of him, pulling the vibrator away. Light heard the sound of leather against skin, and saw the fingerless gloves and a vest and the pants go flying across the room.

Then Light felt Mello nestling up behind him, and Mello leaned down, so that Light felt Mello's hair tickling his shoulder and neck, Mello's breath in his ear.

Light heard Mello's husky whisper say, "Beg for me."

"I want you... please... I can't stand it any more! Rape me! Rape me now!"

Mello said, "You deserve to get raped, Light."

There was something incredibly bitter in Mello's voice just then, and Light wondered, was this a personal vendetta? For some odd reason, thoughts of L flashed into his mind, but no, Mello couldn't have anything to do with L. L didn't have any friends, and if he'd had acquaintances he wanted to put on Kira's trail, he would have done so in a much better way and it would have started years ago.

Mello said, "Beg again!"

"Master, rape me please! I'll do anything! Please!"

And then, all in one swift motion, Mello entered him from behind. _Oh, God_. Light was almost coming just from being entered.

It was brutal, and if Light hadn't been prepared so well, he was sure it would have torn something inside him. It hurt so good, stretching him almost to the breaking point.

Then Mello pulled out almost completely, and rammed in hard a second time. Light cried out. He was so... filled. He knew he was going to feel empty internally when this was over. He needed Mello's dick inside him. It was incredibly hard, and it was pulling out and pushing in, again and again, and it was so good. It made him whimper in pain and pleasure all at once. The bell at his collar jingled constantly from the rhythm.

Mello drew a fingernail along his side, digging in almost enough to draw blood. Light was sure it would leave a long red mark. The pain sent shivers through his body as Mello's cock kept pounding into him. The combination of pain and pleasure was heightening the pleasure. Especially inside, the pleasure was beginning to win, surging to greater heights and drowning out the pain.

Mello fucked him hard and fast, subtly speeding up. Light gasped. He was becoming undone. His true self was somehow emerging for Mello, and these strangers, and the cameras to see. Everyone would know. Light's father, the task force, they would all know. But, Light didn't want to think about it. He blocked it out of his mind, closing his eyes, focusing on that burning-hot length inside him.

Mello was relentless, and not a bit gentle. The hard fucking was bringing Light close to the edge incredibly fast. It was like he needed it. He needed to be fucked rough, by a guy, taken from behind like a whore.

Then Mello said, "Light, you're a horny, shameful kitty and you want to be raped. You wanted this to happen. You're going to come for me."

Then Mello's hands were reaching around and stroking Light's neglected erection while the brutal pounding of his behind continued. There was something incredibly erotic about not being responsible, not being in control, not needing to make any decisions. It had all been scripted out ahead of time.

Light screamed out, "Master, fuck me!"

And then, suddenly, Light was spilling into Mello's clasped hands and helplessly clenching his internal muscles around Mello's dick.

Mello laughed and continued the pounding unabated. Light was overly sensitive inside, tingling and weird. He almost slumped forward, but Mello slapped his ass and said, "Remember the mousetrap?"

Light was brought back to full alertness. Yes, he remembered reading about that. One of the mafia guys had a mousetrap in his pocket. If Light came at the wrong time or displeased Mello in a minor way, he'd have a mousetrap snapped on his penis. If it were in a major way, such as deviating significantly from the script, he'd be strapped to a rack and whipped. Those were the two types of punishment potentially awaiting him.

Mello kept up the relentless pounding, and Light could feel the sweat running down their bodies. He knew he must look a terrible mess. And then, the over-sensitivity was giving way to pleasure once more, and his penis was inflating, becoming hard and swollen.

Mello noticed immediately, stroking Light's cock with one hand and saying, "Such a horny kitty! He just wants to come again and again. He likes the rape. He wants it so bad."

Then Mello stroked faster, and Light felt his excitement rising to a fever pitch. He was going to come so hard, he could just tell it.

Just before Light reached his peak, he shouted out, "Master!"

And then, he was suddenly clutched in the throes of the hardest climax he'd ever had, an exploding pulse of pure, concentrated pleasure that made his body shake and scream, and somehow the act of getting it up the ass while the whole scene was being filmed for his father and everyone to see made it hot and filthy and oh so incredibly erotic. Light couldn't even see for a moment, and his body felt like it was perhaps going to black out, but it didn't.

Moments later, he was dimly aware of Mello's hands clasped around his waist, holding him up so he could continue to be fucked. His whole body felt like trembling, loose jello, completely limp, but Mello held him and fucked and fucked, and then suddenly came with a triumphant, angry snarl, so incredibly smug, the hot liquid suddenly spilling into Light's insides and he was almost painfully aware of each twitch of Mello's cock.

Light collapsed in the cat bed onto his side. Mello pulled out, and Light looked up, seeing a slender physique that reminded him of L, except not so pale as L had been. Mello was extremely skinny and wiry, yet muscled, just like L. Mello was wearing nothing except his boots. He must have kept them on all during sex, and they still looked glossy and new.

Mello smirked down at Light, a subtle smile of victory. Light could almost see some plan glinting in the depths of Mello's eyes, and once again he was thinking of L, of those mostly-inscrutable eyes that always had mysterious plans of some sort lurking in their depths.

For a moment, Light was shaken. He really was afraid of L, even after all these years, and lately it seemed things to jog those specific memories were everywhere. But then, Light put himself back together. He was Kira, and everything was going exactly as planned. Mello would never know what hit him, and Kira's identity would never be exposed.

Mello was getting back into his clothing, and said to his men, "Clean him up, and get him back to his cell."

Light took off the cat collar and dropped it in the cat bed, watching Mello's slender form walking away. The man swayed slightly when he walked, in a sultry kind of way, and his ass cheeks bunched beautifully with each step inside those tight leather pants.

By a few minutes later, Light had been allowed to clean himself with some wet washcloths and had changed back into the same suit he'd been wearing before. The knees were incredibly scuffed from crawling on the floor. Light couldn't help but frown as he examined them. He'd have to throw this away for sure.

Then the mafia men were putting him back into his cell, and as soon as they had walked out of sight, Sayu flung herself at him in a hug. Light wrapped his arms around his sister and could feel her trembling.

In a sobbing, cracked voice, Sayu said, "I'm so selfish! I'm sorry. It should have been me. If I have any guts at all, I'll... I'll volunteer next time."

Light said, "No. If there is a next time, I'll be the victim again. There is no need to sully both of us, especially when I've already done it once."

Sayu drew back and rubbed at her eyes. They were red-rimmed and swollen, and Light guessed she'd been crying much of the time he'd been gone. Yes, this was great. Sayu would never dare to disrespect him ever again. It was an excellent side benefit of this whole experience.

As Sayu made her way back to her cot and sat down despondently, Light had to fight to keep the smile off his face. Yes, this was working out perfectly in so many ways. It was great. Kira would prevail. Mello was a real idiot.

* * *

**A/N (Author's Note):**

Well, the promised lemon has finally occurred, and Light doesn't suspect anything of Mello's plan. Poor Light!

And, what will the task force say when they get Mello's video?


	6. Misa

**CHAPTER 6: Misa**

As Misa listened to the muffled rumble of voices at the end of the hallway, she knew that regardless of what the task force members were saying or what they might do, she'd already outsmarted them. Light thought she was stupid, she could tell. He'd always thought that way, even though she'd come up with a genius plan years ago to find him in the first place.

Just one phase of that plan had gone badly, and it hadn't really been her fault. Those Kira videos had proved traceable to her because of pollen, hairs and ink on the envelopes, but she had kept her fingerprints off of them and had almost pulled off that stunt without a hitch.

And then, months later, she'd helped the Higuchi plan go smoothly too, even risking her life in the process. No, Light should have had more appreciation for her, and he would. She would earn it by being brave and smart, rescuing him without getting caught, proving once again that neither of them could possibly be Kira. She'd show him just how essential and useful she really was, and then he'd really love her, the way she wanted, and he would never, ever dream of leaving her.

If anyone was stupid, it was the Kira task force. Those idiots had been tricked thoroughly by two Kiras for years. L's death should have been suspicious, the way he died exactly when he was the only one still suspecting Light and herself, and furthermore he'd died just before trying to test a rule that, if it failed, would make both of them prime suspects again.

Misa almost couldn't believe there was no real suspicion after that. She kept waiting for the trap to spring, for the entire task force to suddenly swoop in and arrest them, or at least for them to kick Light off the team because it was too unprofessional for a former Kira suspect to lead the mission to catch Kira, but none of those things ever happened.

Those idiots just kept following the endless stupid leads Light created to keep them busy, often things as inane as keeping track of gossip on Kira websites, while Ryuk cavorted around them invisibly, making faces to try to provoke Misa into laughing at odd moments, and both Kiras killed in secret every night in the very same apartment that was used as the Kira investigation headquarters during the day.

Yes, what a bunch of stooges! There was Soichiro, Kira's father who always wanted to believe in his innocence. Then there was Matsuda, the idiot goofball who idolized Light and was a huge Misa-Misa fan. And there was Mogi, who never said much and basically did whatever he was told. He was mainly a paperwork guy, and didn't seem to think much.

The only ones who had any thinking capacity at all were Aizawa and Ide, and luckily both of them shared the same attitude toward the real L, namely that he was an overrated weirdo with terrible methods of investigation. Neither of them wanted to give much credence to L's old, discredited theories.

If only L had managed to put enough truly smart people on his team, if he'd managed to stock it heavily with L-supporters and brought the weight of opinion to his own side, he might have won. Well, there was Aiber and Wedy, but that was a case of too little, too late, and Light killed them before either got too suspicious. Yet even that didn't tip off the task force. The process was almost too easy. Kill off the smart people, and keep the stupid ones. Simple.

As Misa heard the tone of the voices down the hallway rise, becoming more excited and argumentative-sounding even though the words were still indistinct, she was almost sure of their next step. They would search everywhere for a death note, and they would arrest her, keeping her where she couldn't possibly write, where they would see everything she did.

Well, Light had taught her expertly. It was possible to get through that kind of thing. As long as they couldn't find a death note or a scrap of one anywhere and the Kira killings continued even while you were confined, you were completely safe, and furthermore you came out of the experience even cleaner than before, your innocence proven beyond a doubt.

They didn't know anything about the ownership deal, and they didn't even suspect there were three death notes in the human world: Ryuk's extra one, and both the ones Rem had possessed before she'd died. L, the real L, had never even suggested more than two. He'd talked about how there must be two death notes in front of Light and the task force in the days before his death. And, as Light said, people usually went along with what they'd already been led to believe.

With three death notes, it was easy to set up almost any scenario you wanted. Misa remembered the plans Light had discussed with her for what to do if certain things went wrong and he was arrested. He'd never discussed being kidnapped by criminals, but the same principles obviously applied.

Yes, Misa had buried her own death note in a place where they'd never find it, and she'd sent the other death note to a fanatical Kira supporter, Teru Mikami, along with a letter describing what to do and threatening to kill him if he didn't obey, since she knew his face and name but he didn't know hers.

Light had previously discussed a plan very much like this and it was so genius it was sure to fool the task force. She even had Ryuk taken care of. Light had long ago trained Ryuk to roam further afield into other people's houses to look for apples when he was in need and it was inconvenient to let him have one. Ryuk's addiction wouldn't give her away. They'd never be monitoring fruit in all buildings near wherever they decided to imprison her.

As far as sending the Kira videos threatening Light's captors, that was the worst part of the plan, the most suspicious thing she could do, but Misa knew there was really no choice about the matter. She had to save Light. Doing it this way was better than letting the task force trade away Higuchi's old death note for Light's return.

Those criminals, if they had any brains at all, would probably write down Light's name the moment they obtained a death note. Why truly let your hostages go in such a situation, when you could instead control them to not betray you with the added bonus of killing them from afar?

The criminals would kill the task force too, or as many as they knew the identities of. Anyone with an ounce of sense would do that. Otherwise, the criminals would be ceaselessly hunted down by an organization built for the purpose of figuring out who had death notes. No, her plan was the only thing she could do, the only choice, the only way to save Light.

Then, the voices suddenly stopped, and she heard many feet coming down the hallway for her. She put on her actress face, saturated with sweetness and charm. She could play the oblivious girl who didn't think at all. She'd been doing it for years; it was flawless by now, a perfect mask that everyone loved. Everyone except for Light.

Well, after this, it would be different. He'd be enthusiastic, pleased, impressed. Light would acknowledge her as a resource that should be treasured.

And then, the men were all there, lining up in front of the couch where she sat, grave looks on their faces. She knew what was coming next.

Soichiro opened his mouth, closed it, swallowed loudly and then said, "Misa, you must realize how this looks. Light was kidnapped by criminals and then, when you find out, the second Kira makes a video saying the first Kira was kidnapped by criminals. It's too much of a coincidence. We're going to search everywhere, including in your private things. We'll even need to pull apart the furniture and look inside the walls. And, we'll need to put you in a holding cell."

Misa said, "That's fine, because I know I'm not Kira. Misa will just do whatever you say."

There were looks of doubt exchanged between all the men. Her confidence had confused them.

Misa said, "Look, we know Kira tried to frame Light years ago, when all the clues seemed to point at him for a while, so maybe it's the same thing again. Or, if these criminals want to gain Kira's power, it makes sense they would want Higuchi's notebook and Kira too, and they'd make both moves at the same time. They'd want to force Kira to say where the other notebook is. I'm sure Light will tell you all the same things when he returns. He'll get to the bottom of it and find out what happened. Until then, I'll just let you do whatever you need to."

Aizawa cleared his throat and then said, "What about the 13-day rule? If the criminals have Sayu, Light and Kira, then Kira will die if they don't let him go before Kira's time runs out."

"Well," Misa said, "don't you guys want Kira to die anyway? If the criminals let Kira go soon enough, then the world gets a long break from the murders, and if they don't, then Kira dies and only the second Kira is left, so doesn't that make things easier either way?"

Matsuda said, "If both Kiras stop killing people for a whole year, how will we ever find them?"

Soichiro said, "Matsuda! These are people's lives we're talking about. Even if it delays the process of catching Kira, it would be wonderful if the murders stopped for so long."

Matsuda said, "Sorry!"

Misa gazed sweetly at Aizawa and Ide, studying their faces. These were the only ones with real brains, and they both looked terribly suspicious. Well, soon they'd lock her up and as the killings continued with no pause, their suspicions would die out day by day until nothing was left, until she was completely clean and innocent again.

Misa held out both wrists stiffly in front of herself and said, "Do you want to handcuff me? I'd like to start this as soon as possible. Let's not waste time."

After a glance at Aizawa, Ide came forward and handcuffed her, next slipping a blindfold over her face.

In a take-no-shit kind of tone, Ide said, "You're not allowed to know where we're taking you. We're not as cruel as the former L, so you'll be loose in your cell, not in a straightjacket and strapped to a metal frame. It will be small but comfortable."

Misa smiled and let him lead her away.

* * *

**A/N (Author's Note):**

Well, now we know what has been happening at headquarters. Misa's incredibly stupid move wasn't quite as stupid as it first seemed to be. She knew the consequences, but her dedication to preserving Light's life at any cost won out, and with a modified version of one of his plans, she is sure that what she's doing isn't too damaging, at least not in the long run.

Though Light will probably see it as an idiot move when he gets back.

Oh, and with what Misa has done here, Mikami hasn't gained ownership of a death note, he's merely borrowing one, since the owner (Light) never gave up ownership of it. Of course, if he kept it in his possession long enough, or if Light died...


	7. Twist

**CHAPTER 7: Twist**

That was it. The video was done. Or rather, the videos, since all the action had been filmed from three different angles. Light had been a perverted little bitch. He'd acted like he'd actually enjoyed it.

Mello smiled as he remembered how good it had felt to force Light to follow the script, making Light humiliate himself. Well, maybe there would be a chance to do it again.

And, a copy of the video had been sent to Near along with an update about how the case was progressing and the next planned moves. It would blow that little shit's mind. Had Near ever watched porn? Well, if there were one eighteen-year-old male who hadn't, that person would be Near. Maybe it'd shock him out of his intellectual stupor, force him to grow up a bit and stop pretending he was twelve.

Mello finished strapping the GPS tracker to his chest and turned it on. Now, Near could find him, dead or alive, unless he was controlled into removing it or turning it off, and even then, Near would probably find the body anyway. Along with the evidence that had already been sent to Near, that body - Mello refused to really think of it as his own, because it wouldn't really be him anymore - that body would be proof Light was Kira.

Now that the GPS tracker was turned on, Near and his team would probably move in quickly to observe the results. Even if Light pulled a trick with controlled actions to try to hide the body, he'd never expect a whole anti-Kira team and heavy surveillance guarding against that possibility.

What would Near feel when he saw that body, and knew Mello had beaten him once and for all? What would Near think about the unquestionable fact that Mello had caught Kira in a spectacular blaze of glory while Near was still in the process of gathering together paperwork and organizing his team, that Mello had truly followed in the footsteps of L?

Mello took a deep breath and leaned forward in his chair, closer to the computer screen. It was now time to do it, to take the last step. It was also the last chance to back out, to give up. But, no, that would never happen.

With a few quick keystrokes, the encrypted video file was on its way. Like an untraceable phone call, the signal would be bounced around everywhere, and the encryption insured that nobody would see it en route. Only the intended recipients would decode it.

Mello then pressed a button on a microphone in front of him, and an audio connection was established with the Japanese Kira task force. As with the file, it would be impossible to trace this. They should all be there, waiting for this communication.

Mello said, "Is Soichiro Yagami there?"

Soichiro's voice said, "What have you done with my daughter?"

Mello replied, "I think you'll find I haven't done a thing with Sayu, yet. You see, Light saved her. He was actually very noble."

In a choked, slightly hopeful voice, Soichiro said, "Sayu escaped?"

Mello took a bite of chocolate and said, "No, both of them are still locked up. Light saved Sayu from being raped, by offering himself instead. The encrypted file I just sent to you is a video showing Light getting raped. He had to follow all my commands in order to save his sister. It's really quite touching. He's a dutiful brother."

There was a stunned silence on the other end, and Mello thought he could just barely hear loud, ragged breaths from several people.

The voice Mello had learned to recognize as Matsuda's said, "You-you monster!"

Mello said, "The key to unlocking the encryption has been sent to Matsuda's email address. Please watch the video of Light getting raped so you'll know how serious we are. If you do not exchange the notebook for Light and Sayu, further rapes will happen. If Light doesn't keep being so generous, or if I decide I'm tired of him and I'd like a little variety, Sayu will get raped too."

Mello took another bite and then added, "I know none of you will kill any of us, because you don't have our names, just our faces from the video. If you try to release those faces in the media or on the Internet so the second Kira will kill us, we'll punish you. If you do it before we've exchanged for the notebook, we'll kill Light and Sayu. If you do it afterwards, we'll kill Light, Sayu and all the rest of you too. We also have contacts within the FBI, CIA and many other organizations, so if you try to show our faces to them, we'll know about it and retaliate. You are currently being watched, so we'll know any moves you make. If you try to arrest or kill those who are watching you, I'll kill one of my prisoners. Don't think you can kill us all before we can make any moves. I promise you it will backfire."

The sound cut off entirely. They must be having a private discussion about what to do. Mello watched the clock, and when exactly three minutes had passed he pressed the microphone button and said, "Soichiro Yagami, you must decide quickly. Stalling will get you nowhere."

Soichiro said, "I would like to save my children, but is there any way we can be sure you won't kill all of us as soon as you have the notebook?"

Mello smiled. This was easy, and there wasn't a single smart person on that team if they hadn't thought of the obvious answer yet.

Mello said, "If I killed all of you, I'm sure there is some mechanism that would alert your superiors that the entire Kira investigation team was dead. Otherwise, it would be pointless to have a Kira investigation team, because Kira could have killed all of you years ago without anyone ever realizing it. If all of you die, someone from the NPA or another law enforcement organization will attempt to decipher what happened, examine the evidence at your headquarters, and then create a new team to hunt us down. We might not be able to discover the identities of that new team in order to blackmail them into leaving us alone. But, as long as the current team is alive and we have the notebook, all of your lives are insurance for us. You cannot act against us without dying, so you won't, and as long as you are alive nobody else will act against us either."

Soichiro stammered, "Th-that makes sense."

Mello said, "So, do we have a deal? If we don't, I will continue to rape one or both of your children and send the tapes to you until you give in. Maybe I could even get your daughter pregnant."

In a voice laden with exhaustion, Soichiro said, "We have a deal."

Then Mello explained in detail what they should do to make the exchange. Of course, there would be some little tricks they wouldn't know about until the last minute, some later deviations from the script, to make sure they wouldn't know too much about what was happening. There was a strong possibility they would attempt to snatch the notebook back immediately after the hostages had been transferred, but that wouldn't be possible if they couldn't even figure out where the notebook had gone.

When Mello had finished explaining and asked if the plan was understood, Soichiro suddenly blurted out, "Can I talk to my son?"

"No. You already have proof that we have him as a hostage, and there is no reason for you to conspire together."

Soichiro said, "There have been new developments in the Kira case. We rely on Light for help. You can listen to everything we say, I just need to find out a few things that have nothing to do with catching you or your men. Wouldn't you like us to take Kira out of commission so you have no competition?"

"You are talking about the Kira video shown recently on Sakura TV. If you need Light's help, then you can wait until you've rescued him. It will only be two days."

"That's not what I'm talking about. We have... we have arrested a suspect for the second Kira, and it is important, if we could just ask Light a few questions, it would clear some things up, I'm sure. It has nothing to do with any move against you or your men, you can tell that just by listening to us talk, and it could help your situation by removing a competitor."

Mello said, "No. Follow the plan. If I see any deviations from what we've agreed, there will be more rapes or I'll kill one of them. I'm disconnecting now."

Mello turned off the connection. Was it possible the second Kira had actually been arrested? It could also be a trick they were using, or maybe they thought they had the second Kira but really didn't.

If Light couldn't get in contact with the second Kira, then there would be a problem with the plan. However, Light was a part of the investigation team, so he should be able to gain access to any suspects. Still, there could be unforeseen complications if Light's investigation team truly had arrested the second Kira.

Or maybe, the entire team was already on Kira's side, by bribes or threats or some other means, and so the identity of both Kiras was an open secret to them. In that case, a controlled death would come very soon for everyone who'd exposed their faces in the video, before Light and Sayu could be exchanged for the notebook. Everyone known to be involved in the kidnapping would be controlled into revealing their location and letting their prisoners go without any fuss or harm, and it would happen very soon, before any additional rapes could be carried out.

Yes, the deaths themselves might be scheduled for later, but the control would take place right away, and it would certainly include not raping anyone. Soichiro's voice had dripped with fear and desperation. He wanted to protect his children. If the Japanese team for investigating Kira was actually a knowing tool of Kira, then they would have no problem in contacting the second Kira themselves to arrange for the deaths.

There was only one way to test this. Perform another rape while Light was still in custody. If successful, it would amount to proof that the rest of the team wasn't in on Kira's secret, that they weren't Kira's accomplices except to the extent that they had been unwittingly tricked into the role.

_Light, if I'm able to rape you now, then if I die later it will truly be proof that you are acting personally as Kira, that nobody else on your team is Kira._

Mello quickly sent an email to Near explaining the new situation and his plans. Near had the location by now from the GPS, and he probably wouldn't try to interfere with things. Even if he wanted to save Light from being raped, it would be far too late by the time any of his agents arrived, and Near would know that. Near was logical. He'd be shocked, but he'd wait, he'd recognize there was only one way to react to this news.

Then Mello got on the phone to Matt and asked him to try to figure out who had been arrested as the second Kira. If things went well, it might be possible to catch two Kiras at once, one-upping Near even more thoroughly.

Then Mello began to write a new rape script. This time, no choice would be offered. Light would be the victim. He deserved this for killing L. L died in Light's arms, for fuck's sake, and what could be crueler or more devious than that?

A few extra barbs of humiliation would be introduced to the situation. Light would be told his father had refused to send the notebook and so another video needed to be made. When Light returned home and realized that had been a lie, he'd be humiliated. His anger would make it more likely he'd make mistakes, and the extra shame would fully ensure he'd do everything in his power to kill someone who could only be killed by the second Kira.

Mello surveyed the title he'd written for the script: "Mail Order Bride"

Yes, this time, Light would play the part of a Japanese mail order bride, and be forced to speak bad English, which should humiliate him even further, considering how nearly flawless his English was. Light would be in a frilly dress, and he'd be forced to work in the kitchen and punished for doing it wrong. And then, he'd get bent over the table and fucked up the ass.

Mello finished the script quickly. Yes, Light deserved this and more. Mello printed it up, stapled it together and rushed to Light's cell.

Light looked up in surprise as Mello shoved the sheaf of paper between the bars.

Mello said, "Your daddy is resisting, so we need to make another video. You were such a good fuck last time that I'm going to choose you again this time, Light. Have the script memorized in half an hour."

* * *

**A/N (Author's Note):**

Well, another Mello/Light lemon is nearly here, and this second one will be from Mello's perspective instead of Light's. When Light gets home and realizes that Mello made these videos without needing to, that Soichiro wasn't actually resisting, is he going to think Mello is a rape maniac?


	8. Bride

**CHAPTER 8: Bride**

Mello just loved the expression on Light's face.

Light looked utterly speechless. His gaze was glued to the script, laying on the floor of the cell where it had fallen. Light's sister let out a whimper and curled up within her blankets. Sayu was getting more and more withdrawn.

Mello waited until Light had walked over to pick it up, and then said, "Any questions?"

Light said, "No."

Light didn't even look that worried. Was this all an act? Was he planning something?

Mello spun around and stalked away. Half an hour was just enough time for the guys who'd been sent on shopping errands to return. He hoped they'd get a really frilly dress, exactly like he'd described for them.

It was difficult to wait, though. There was something about Light, the hard look in his eyes, the way he responded to sexual stimulation. It was like he was begging for punishment. Well, he needed to be punished. It was virtually certain that Light had to be Kira, and that he'd killed L.

Mello smiled to himself and leaned back in his chair, playing with his chocolate more than eating it, waiting for his men to return.

When they did, Mello had an uncontrollable grin at the lacy little number they had picked out. It was pink and white, and ridiculously frilly and would barely cover anything. It was a maid's outfit, complete with a tiny little apron and a matching cap to be tied under the chin. It looked like a maid's outfit that had been designed for a stripper.

Mello said, "Make him go through the enema routine and scrub him down afterwards. Then have him dress up and nail him into the box. Videotape all of it. When's he's in the box, come get me."

Rashual replied, "Sure thing."

Mello ran one last check on the ingredients in the kitchen, and then went back to his office and sat in a chair, legs crossed, waiting with a giddy feeling, almost a buzzing sensation, growing inside him.

This was it. The last bit of proof, the last piece of actual detective work to do on the case. If the rape were possible, it would clear everyone on Light's team except for Light himself.

Afterwards, there would be nothing left to do except being monitored by Near so that Light could be fully caught in his deceptions.

_Will Near barge in and take custody of me, or will he monitor me from a distance, letting any form of control become evident as I am allowed to act on my own?_

It didn't matter. Either way, Mello knew Light would be caught, and that it would be his own victory, with Near merely acting as a tool. Near would know it, too. He might try to claim the victory for "L" as far as the public knew, but Near himself would know the victory wasn't his own. That was all that truly counted. Avenging L, and winning the private war against Near.

Mello was on his feet almost immediately when Rashual returned, eager to experience the final phase, the last bit of true action he could perform before his likely death.

The kitchen was small, run-down and dingy, but it would work for the purpose. The huge wooden crate was wedged into a corner, higher than Mello was tall.

Mello kicked the crate and said, "Light, it starts now. You'd better hope you're ready."

There was no answer, but the watching men snickered. They'd probably been listening to Light pleasuring himself.

Mello knew his men had left a tube of lubrication and a vibrator inside the crate with Light. If Light knew what was best for him, he'd be all lubed up. It wasn't for his sake, though. Dry sex could hurt like sandpaper, and Mello didn't want to inflict that on himself.

_This is what I'm now doing. I'm a rapist and a murderer, but the bastard deserves it and I've seen what the world has become. If L had been willing to use more extreme measures, I'm sure he would have caught Light. Yes, I'm a hypocrite and L would never approve of this, but what else can I do? L isn't here to be angry about it and Kira must be stopped._

Mello grabbed the provided crowbar and began prying open the crate, listening to the screech of nails being torn loose one by one. Through the widening cracks, he saw inside, in the darkness, glimpses of Light in the frilly pink-and-white stripper's maid dress. Yes, he was even wearing the cap in his hair. Plus, a sexy black garter high on one thigh. They must have grabbed that from one of the whores.

The men were already laughing, video cameras lifted high to film the action, as the last nail came loose and the front of the crate fell open, revealing Light fully. He was somehow frowning and smirking at the same time.

Light took some unsteady steps out of the crate, wobbling on high heels. Then he stood tall in front of Mello and said, in English, "I your Japanese mail order wife. You like? Which manly man I marry? I crave man so bad."

There was a flash of anger in Light's eyes. The kitty script hadn't provoked quite this reaction. Light was... interesting.

Mello stepped close to Light, breathing in his face, and said, "I'm your husband, Light. Call me Mello."

Light's hands were tangled in Mello's hair, and then Light was kissing, pulling Mello into it, Light's eyes averted to the side, looking at a camera, while his teeth gently nipped at Mello's bottom lip.

Light suddenly broke the kiss and leaned over the table, rump in the air, wiggling, his head twisted around to look back over his shoulder at Mello. Light's short skirt was flipped up, exposing his entire ass. His slender, girlish butt was clad only in black lacy high-cut panties, and then there was the garter below, all creating a nice frame, a pleasing arrangement. The audience let out catcalls and whistles.

A thrill ran through Mello. Light was really starting to look angry.

Light paused, and then said, "I want big American dick inside me. Want now. I hear American mans all have huge dick that satisfy. Asian mans only have small penis, not very satisfy for woman."

Mello lightly ran the tip of one gloved finger across Light's ass and said, "Is my little bride not a virgin? How many dicks have you had inside your vagina, Light?"

Light said, "Light is virgin. Yes, that why Light want so bad, been deprived of fucking for whole life. Hear the reputation of big dick and sell as mail bride."

Mello smacked Light's ass hard and said, "Do you want my dick? You'll have to earn it. A woman's place is in the kitchen, Light. If you're not a good cook, I'll send you back to Japan and order another one. Faulty... merchandise... can always be returned for a refund."

Light twisted up onto his elbows and said, "Light cook anything! Light good cook!"

Mello motioned to the kitchen counter and said, "Everything you need is there. Make me some fucking chocolate chip cookies, bitch."

Light rushed to the counter and gathered everything, placing the big bowl on the table and then pouring all the ingredients into the bowl. He started mixing it together with a wooden spoon, laboriously, struggling. Mello wasn't about to let him have an electric mixer.

Mello enjoyed the struggle for a while and then pressed his body close to Light, lurking over his shoulder and plucking out chocolate chips one by one to consume. The traces of cookie batter that they were coated in only made them more delicious.

Mello said, "Light, you didn't put enough chocolate chips in. You're running out. Do you need to read the instructions again?"

Light said, "Not read so good English. Perform instructions in Japanese?"

Mello slapped Light's ass hard, hard enough to leave a red mark, he was sure. Light yelped, ran to the counter, and got another bag of chocolate chips, returning and pouring them all into the bowl of batter on the table. Mello scooped out two big handfuls of chips and ate them in front of Light, defiantly staring Light down as he slowly and deliberately licked everything into his mouth and chewed.

When Mello finished, he said, "Light, you're a terrible cook. You keep refusing to add enough chocolate chips, and now we've run out. I'm afraid that I might have ordered some faulty merchandise."

Light placed both hands on the sides of his face and said, "Not send back! Not! Light is great wife! Light do anything, Light suck dick good."

And then Light was dropping to his knees. The crude comments were starting all around among the watchers, and Light was breathing faster and blushing as he opened Mello's leather pants with his fingers and teeth at the same time. Light looked wanton and horny, as if he were excited. There was still that flashing of anger in his eyes, though, as he looked up into Mello's face, but then Mello sighed as he felt Light's hands and mouth at once on him. It was making his dick throb and harden even before Light practically inhaled the entire thing and then choked on it.

The coughing felt good. Mello grabbed Light's ears and forced his way back into that tight, wet throat, feeling it as a sliding, slippery ecstasy. With each thrust, the head of his dick was held the very tightest, as it slid again and again into that moist, narrow throat, choking it deliciously.

Mello could feel Light's teeth too, his jaws open and holding back but they could bite at any moment, if Light dared to disobey, and that thrill coursed through Mello's body right out to the tips of his fingers and toes, tingling. Like everything, it was the danger, the risk, that made it truly worthwhile.

Mello could feel it rising in him, the urge to come, to come right into Light's mouth, no, deep in his throat, to force him to swallow it, no matter how he choked and gagged.

But, no, that wasn't the plan, that wasn't the script. Waiting out a refractory period would be boring and wouldn't make for a great film.

Mello roughly pulled Light away and spun him around, slamming him face-down onto the table. Light was panting hard and something in the way he squirmed... he looked like he wanted it, like he was horny, positively turned on. Light was some kind of sick fuck, but then, he was Kira, so why expect any different?

Mello remembered enough of the script to say, "Well, you're not bad at sucking dick. Maybe you were even made for it. But before we go any further, I need to inspect the merchandise. It might be faulty, after all."

Light said nothing but he closed his eyes and his muscles were relaxing, his butt pressing backwards into Mello. Mello slid a hand under Light's skirt, watching Light's face carefully as he groped around. Yes, Light was getting further into the act, his lips plump and parted just so, his body trembling, pressing into the touches, his dick fully hard, straining against the lace of the panties and twitching vigorously in Mello's hand.

Mello palmed Light's erection further, then harshly pulled his panties down to his knees and said, "Light, you've got both a dick and a pussy. Care to explain that?"

Mello pressed his erection just between Light's ass cheeks. He could feel the wetness of Light's already-prepared entrance, trying to lure him in, but he waited outside, just lightly bumping against it with little thrusts.

Light moaned and said, "This international secret, must promise not to tell. All Japanese women are magical dickgirl. Every female Japanese has penis."

Mello shed his leather vest and his silk shirt, leaning down across Light's back, feeling the thin fabric of the maid outfit and the ample skin it revealed against his bare chest, hardening his nipples. He felt as if his penis would burst if he waited any longer to penetrate Light, but he stubbornly rocked in place, so close to being inside Light's ass that he couldn't get any closer without actual fucking.

Mello pressed a kiss to the back of Light's neck and said, "What do you do with your penis, Light? What do dickgirls do?"

Mello's hands drifted underneath, teasing Light's erection with soft touches and gentle strokes. It felt extremely swollen and jumped within Mello's grasp, enormously responsive. His fingers strayed to the tip and found it dripping and sticky with pre-come.

Light said, "Us dickgirl, we sometimes play with each other penis. We get in tickle fight in shower and suck on each other until orgasm all over place. Must have ten orgasm each day or otherwise us get very sore."

Mello began stroking a little harder, making Light's breath hitch, and then he said, "Do you play with yourself Light? Do you touch your own penis and make yourself come?"

As Light said, "Yes," Mello slid inside, into the warm wetness of Light's ass, making a little moan escape Light as he squirmed underneath, positively squirmed on the table. He looked so bothered, so greedy and wanton. He was fully ready inside. It felt like suction drawing Mello in as he slipped deeper and deeper, so far in on the first thrust, and Light was spreading his legs wide, taking it, trembling slightly underneath.

Mello pulled almost entirely out, so far that when he slammed back inside it felt like a first penetration all over again. And then he was thrusting hard, letting out an animalistic snarl, determined to ream Light's ass as deeply as possible.

It was a little more difficult to remember the script, but Light was supposed to say something more.

Mello pinched Light brutally on the upper thigh to make him remember.

In a voice that strained and varied on every inward thrust, Light said, "Light play with herself, she play by grabbing dick and stroking hard, and at same time she puts cucumber in vagina and imagines American man just like you fucking her. She shove in cucumber over and over and strokes dick until she comes, and then she lick it all cum from her hands. But Light need man. She never satisfy until now."

"Show me, Light. Show me how you play with your dick."

Mello dangled one hand underneath, just next to Light's cock, and he felt Light's hands easing into place and then stroking hard. Mello grabbed Light's balls with his other hand, squeezing and making Light cry out.

Mello nearly lost it right then, but he held it in, determined to enjoy it for as long as possible, feeling Light play with himself, feeling Light on the inside, deep in the warm wetness that took his cock in again and again, and seeing Light gradually unraveling, becoming a wanton whore for the cameras. Light was bucking underneath Mello on the table, arching his back, his dress slid up to nearly his nipples.

What was this to Light? Well, he was a cold-hearted killer of thousands. In order to keep up the facade he must routinely lie to those around him, especially at work. He had a fanatic's personality and he must have become used to tricking people, using people and making everything serve his single goal.

Perhaps sex meant nothing to him; perhaps sex was never anything more than a means to the goal or part of the normal facade he showed to others, to pretend he wasn't a supernatural serial killer.

Mello pounded Light harder, barely, barely hanging on. The surging pleasure within him was almost too much to bear, but Mello wanted to hold on, to humiliate Light, to force Light to come. Light was close, he had to be. He was clearly enjoying it, and the pleasure was not forced, no, it was almost as if Light had chosen this. The emotional cues Light was giving off, they were all wrong for rape.

But if it wasn't rape, then what was it?

Was Light someone so sick that he didn't know the difference between sex and rape? But then, you'd have to be an incredible sicko to kill thousands of people. It fitted Kira perfectly. The guy who killed criminals, but was the biggest criminal of them all. Kira was the record-breaking serial killer, the worst in history. What a hypocrite.

Yes, it was rape. Light was just too depraved to know the difference.

Mello wanted to lean down and whisper in his ear, "Did you fuck L too? What did you feel when he died in your arms?"

But he didn't say anything. He held back the words by sheer force of will. Somehow, somehow Light had managed to win against L, and it wasn't fair, it wasn't right at all. Even a person who cheated by using supernatural power should not be able to win against L.

How had L slipped up? Had Light used L's one weakness, his social inexperience?

L could read people very well. It was one of the reasons he was such a recluse. L knew too much about the sickness in people to be comfortable socializing with them. But L could not use charm and social graces to impress others or to motivate them, he could only use his sheer intelligence.

Or had Light won by corrupting the team that was helping L? Had he won them to his side and turned them against L?

Those few thoughts about L prevented Mello from coming when Light lost it, when Light screamed out in pleasure and began ejaculating all over the edge of the table and the floor. Mello watched the white splashes as they appeared, dreamlike and almost detached from it all, immersed in a haze of arousal and anger.

It felt good to fuck Light hard, mercilessly, to watch him beg for it and play with himself and come, to use him like a whore. There was no reason to hold back any longer. Mello smiled and spread Light's ass cheeks as far apart as they could go, so far he could sense the skin stretching, and he kept driving in deep.

Light was quivering and helpless, spent. He was a dirty, filthy toy.

But Mello's pleasure was rising further, a heavy heat gathering and building, needing release. He closed his eyes, shutting out the room, only feeling that intense impending sensation, that unstoppable pleasure that suddenly shot out from him and into the trembling form underneath him. He was briefly insane.

Mello rocked forward with each emptying surge, almost too sensitive, feeling his slick, warm cum everywhere inside Light, more and more of it. Everything was wonderful. Nothing else existed other than the waves of pleasure and the place where his body was joined to another.

Slowly it subsided, each wave lessening, and Mello opened his eyes.

Light had a calculating expression on his face.

Mello didn't care. He was high on lust and anger, tingling all over with the lazy after-effects of a good fuck, and smug with the knowledge of a sure win.

* * *

**A/N (Author's Note):**

I realize it was a really long wait between the previous chapter and this one. I know I kept saying it would be updated in a particular future month, and that month kept changing. I apologize for that, and I hope the lemony goodness of this chapter helps to make up for that wait.

I have a hard time imagining Mello as a rapist, but I think Mello might go pretty far if he was dealing with L's murderer and facing his own death at the same time.


	9. Near

**CHAPTER 9: Near**

The package was a surprise to Near. The videos, Mello's letter, all the evidence included in it. Taken together, it was just one step away from proving Light Yagami was Kira. All that was needed, was to let Light make one move on his own, and the case would probably be solved, just like that. It was so fast, perhaps too fast. Mello had a habit of impatience, a love of risks, and an inability to simply observe. Why did it have to be a hasty solution like this?

Near felt a kind of cold anger inside him when reading the letter. To think that Mello should die for such a thing, for a reputation that would be virtually unknown, for empty vengeance. L was already dead, and nothing could ever change that, and the dead could not appreciate revenge or reputations.

The dead knew nothing. Near was as sure of that as he was of anything. Nothing about any afterlife had ever been proven, nothing that couldn't be explained as the last fireworks of a dying brain. If an afterlife existed, then all the genius minds that had spent years upon years researching it would have produced better evidence. Therefore, it did not exist. Death was the true end of everything.

Just because some deaths could be produced by supernatural means, that did not prove anything about any afterlife.

Before Near had finished examining all the evidence, his subordinates were questioning him. He wasn't ready yet, so he kept hushing them and waving them away.

Watching the rape made him feel sick inside. His eyes kept drifting away from the screen, to the toy cars he was playing with. His play only drained off a little of the tension, but by the time he had finished with all the evidence he had managed to think enough to arrive at one small decision.

His head tilted down, eyes on the floor, he said, "Mello is a former associate of mine. I have tricked him into this course of action, though I did not think he would go quite this far."

Gevanni said, "And, Mello's letter? What did it mean?"

"Mello," Near said, "has a rather psychotic idea of his own importance. He likes to believe that he is proving himself better than me."

This way was best, to claim credit for Mello's work. Near knew he was not going to give Mello the glory he craved. That would be tantamount to giving a blessing to Mello's death, to approving of his suicidal plan.

Mello's death was an extremely uncomfortable proposition, an obvious error resulting from a hasty, impulsive mind. Near knew he could, if he wanted, sabotage Mello's plan. There were several ways to do so.

Near took the scrap of paper that had been removed from Light Yagami's watch and balanced it in the back of a red toy truck. Yes, there were several ways to ensure Mello's life would be at least prolonged, and perhaps saved altogether. The question was whether it would be worth it, to toss away excellent evidence. By Near's calculations, he had at least until Light Yagami arrived back in Japan to enact any sabotage, so it wasn't a decision that needed to be made yet.

Of course, Mello would be furious, but then Mello was always furious, so that did not matter one way or another.

It was not too long until a second rape video arrived, along with additional instructions. With that action, Mello had proven that, of the task force members, Light alone could be Kira. The others could not be willingly on Light's side.

Once again, Near felt that cold fury welling up inside him, at how far and how fast Mello had progressed, by taking such ridiculous risks. No, they were not even worth calling risks. Mello was simply throwing his life away.

That Mello should think throwing his life away was acceptable, that it was a superior kind of detective work, that was unthinkable. There was certainly something wrong with Mello. His priorities were not justified.

There was no such thing as justice, after all. There was only winning the game. If you lost your life, it could not count as a win, and Near would never give Mello that acknowledgment.

That terrible, childish, angry letter... it was working from entirely the wrong premise. It was sad and deluded, not noble, as Mello thought it was.

At the end of the video, as the screen flickered and then went blank, Halle said, "Mello has committed two rapes now. Are we going to let this continue?"

Near could hear the bitter, questioning tone in her voice.

Near replied, "Two rapes are of no importance when compared to Kira's numerous murders. So far, it has been the right decision to allow Mello to act without interfering. Besides, we did not have his location until very shortly before the second rape, so there was only a small chance of stopping that one, and from the information he has sent us I seriously doubt there will be a third rape."

The GPS blip showed on another screen, a big map of Los Angeles. Mello was on the move.

Gevanni said, "Are you sure Mello is stable enough to trust?"

Near shuffled uncomfortably on the floor and said, "It is an expression of Mello's lust for revenge. I suspected this before, but it is now clear that Mello will do anything to avenge L's death."

Halle said, "We need to be careful. If we don't interfere, he'll have one of the murder notebooks as soon as the hostages are exchanged for it. Or perhaps he won't have it, but his mafia underlings will, and who knows how far it might roam?"

"That is why," Near replied, "we need to plan our next move with great care. There are a number of choices. Knowing Mello's position, we could probably stage a sneak attack to capture him and his underlings, freeing the hostages in the process. We could also allow the hostage exchange to take place and then allow Kira to kill Mello and everyone with him, arresting Kira with absolute proof after that. Or we could contact Soichiro Yagami and warn the Japanese investigation team of Mello's trap. In that case, Kira would be left in a tight situation once he arrived home."

Rester said, "What would that accomplish? Wouldn't alerting them waste all of Mello's work?"

"Not necessarily," Near said, "it might allow us to set up a better trap for all the Kiras. The Japanese investigation team has arrested a suspect for the second Kira, yet the murders continue. This is obviously a situation that could use further study and preparation. Destroying one Kira might make the situation worse if we are not able to stop all Kiras at once."

Near stared and stared at the little, deadly scrap of paper. That was an additional option too: simply kill Light Yagami and sort out the other Kiras later. With the evidence so far, there was a better than ninety-nine percent chance that Light Yagami was Kira. Should Mello really be allowed to die in order to confirm that remaining less-than-one-percent chance?

It seemed like something L would do, to wait to be completely sure.

But Near knew he wasn't L, and that L wasn't watching him to make sure he adhered to all the rules.

* * *

**A/N (Author's Note):**

I wanted to show something from Near's perspective, what he thought and what he was doing.

I imagine that Near has strong feelings for Mello, but that since Near is far more emotionally cold and robot-like than even L, this means Near doesn't understand or acknowledge those emotions.


	10. Exchange

**CHAPTER 10: Exchange**

Light was burning with shame as soon as Mello left. He lay on his stomach on the table, not moving to clean the stickiness that was trapped between himself and the tabletop, not moving to pull up his panties. He tried to ignore the catcalls and jeering that had started up on Mello's exit, only taking a slight glance to see that they were still filming. It looked like they were doing some zooming close-ups of under his skirt.

That mail order bride script, it had been an obvious attempt to humiliate, to provoke. Anger burned in Light's gut. That it was so pleasurable had only made the whole experience worse in the end, once Light allowed himself to think of what he'd done, of that terrible, terrible dialogue.

Mello... what a guy. Light had wanted something like Mello for a long time, a man who looked like a girl, but he'd always curbed his impulses. Although, Light's Mello-like fantasies had never involved being on the bottom. There had been quite a bit more oral in Light's imagination, and less kink. The rapes... what a joke, that Mello thought he could rape Kira. Mello had been thoroughly fooled. Light was only playing, experimenting, taking advantage of an opportunity.

If he really hadn't wanted sex, he could have done something else. Light was sure that he could have outsmarted the thugs in a dozen different ways. When he was in a difficult situation and wanted out, some idea would always occur to him, some trick that he could use to force his way. That was his talent, Light knew, and it had never failed him.

Mello was just a pawn, a tool, not a real rapist. He'd been fooled into performing a role.

With a few furtive moves, designed to be hidden from the cameras, Light snuck some of his semen into the bowl of cookie dough, hoping that Mello would eat it later and get a small dose of humiliation back. That horrible English... the ridiculous dress... Mello had a lot to answer for.

Although, something about the sheer audacity of it all sparked Light's interest, turned him on, made him wonder what else Mello could think of, given the chance. When Light had imagined a male lover, he'd never pictured a creative one, only an obedient one, and now that he had a real taste of what a disobedient, kinky lover could do... someone completely unlike the Misa experience, where Misa gave in easily to each one of Light's suggestions...

One of the cameramen put down his camera and pulled a cellphone from his pocket. Light listened. The guy said almost nothing, but the deduction was simple to make anyway. He was having a short conversation with someone who was obviously Mello.

Light wondered why his father hadn't handed over the death note after the first sex video had been delivered. Had he perhaps lost the death note? It had been hidden for years, after all, in whatever secret place his father had chosen.

Light squelched the panic trying to rise within him. No, that couldn't be the case. His father was meticulous and careful and would never lose the death note.

It was odd, though, that two "rape" videos would be required.

Light stood up and said, "Where are my clothes?"

The mafia thugs laughed, and then the one Light knew was called Rod Ross said, "You're not going to see those clothes ever again. You better clean yourself up, 'cause you'll be wearing that dress until your daddy comes to get you."

The men laughed at that, as if it was the funniest thing in the world, and one of the guys tossed Light a wet dishcloth.

_My watch! I'm not going to be able to kill anyone until I'm home again._

As Light cleaned the semen off himself, his hands itched to touch his own death note. No, it wasn't his original death note. The original was the one that had been hidden somewhere by his father after being taken from Higuchi. Light's own death note, the one that he now derived his memories from, was the one he had earned by manipulating Rem into killing herself, the one that he had found on her pile of ashes after finally arranging the death of L.

Having been earned, it was so much sweeter than the one that had come to him by chance alone. The touch of it soothed his hands and his mind. It had been too long. Light wanted to kill somebody. Anybody, anybody who deserved it, and there were always more of those, always more people the world would be better off without.

After long practice, the act of killing was almost like an instinct within Light. He needed it for his equilibrium, just as he needed food and sleep.

Just as Light finished cleaning himself, the men announced it was time to move, to go to another location. Light tried to leave the maid's cap behind, but the men held him down and fastened it back on, laughing their crude laughter and then handcuffing and blindfolding him as well. He was herded blindly along various hallways and stair steps, from what he could feel certainly being taken out a different way than he came in, halfway along accompanied by Sayu's highly recognizable whimpering.

It was into another shipping container after that, or perhaps the same one, being driven around, being left entirely alone except for meals and bathroom breaks. The handcuffs made Light's wrists sore and the straw or hay that lined the bottom of the shipping container made Light's skin itchy.

It was always Mello who helped Light. Light couldn't see but he recognized the voice, the touches of the hands, and the smell of chocolate.

And every time Mello pulled down Light's panties and tried to get him to piss in a bucket, Light found himself getting hard enough so that he couldn't pee, and then he'd have to wait for his erection to go away while Mello snickered wetly in his ear and gave Light's cock little teasing strokes just to cause extra frustration.

Something in Light wanted to beg for sexual release at those times, but he didn't. He couldn't afford to, with his sister listening nearby and with needing to keep up the pretense of being a rape victim. If only he could get Mello alone, in a situation with more equal footing and total secrecy, where he could slam Mello into the ground and mount him, victorious, fulfilling all their pent-up cravings in the most delicious ways...

But instead, each time Mello assisted him, Light forced his mind to stop those imaginings, and in the end he would always calm down and be able to use the toilet bucket, in humiliation.

Their time in the shipping container seemed to last forever, but from Light's counting of their meals, it probably wasn't much more than a day.

They were knocked out again before the final segment with what tasted and smelled like the same kind of sleeping gas, and Light woke up some time later, feeling like hell, like a terrible hangover. Hands were on his shoulders and a wet, cool cloth was being applied to Light's face.

He opened his eyes only to get jabbed with the cloth, and jerked his head back, blinking wildly, feeling a floor hard and cold as rock underneath him, hearing his father's voice first and then his sister's.

"He's awake, he's awake!"

"Are you okay, Light? I'm sorry, I'm so sorry!"

Both of their voices sounded weepy, as if they were on the verge of crying but holding it back.

The room resolved into a very low-angle view of something huge and dim, concrete floors and walls, and bright light filtering in from a large distance away at just one end. Light guessed it was perhaps an underground garage. Or, no, it looked more like an underground airplane hanger. The opening at one end was huge. Light tried to sit up, but the handcuffs were hampering his movements, he still felt distant and a little stupid, and his head throbbed.

Sayu's hands were on his shoulders, helping him to sit up.

Sayu's voice said, "Light, can you talk? Are you sick? What did they do to you?"

Light blinked again. The room was swaying, dizziness making him nauseous. He looked down and saw the frilly skirts of his dress smeared with dust from the floor.

Soichiro said, "Son, just rest if you can. There will be a medical crew here as soon as possible. We've got you now. We'll take care of you. We don't have a key for the handcuffs but we'll get them sawed open."

Light tried to make his tone sound pitiful and said, "Yes."

At that, Sayu put her face in her hands and started crying. Light looked to his father and saw him wearier than ever before, incredibly old and tired. His face was stern and resigned, and he was pulling a cellphone out of his pocket.

Soichiro flipped the cellphone open and said, "I have both of them. We're going to exit now. How soon can you have a van here?"

After listening for a moment, he said, "Good. I'm sure they are hearing everything I say as long as I'm here. I'll stay on this phone, and if they kill us before we can get free, level this place with the bomb, destroy everything."

Light said, "What is this place?"

"It used to be an American military installation, but it was abandoned decades ago, and apparently the mafia moved in and repaired it. It's in the middle of a desert. There's nobody for many kilometers around. It'll be a long wait until they can pick us up."

_In that case, it's unlikely they can successfully retreat with the death note. They'll be tracked easily. What idiots._

Sayu said, "That notebook, was it Kira's notebook? The man with the gun, he wrote in it and said he was testing it to see if it really killed, and then... and then... he said he had confirmation on his phone that it did kill somebody."

_So that's what happened while I was unconscious. Now that Sayu knows how Kira's power works, I may have to kill her someday, just to make sure she stays quiet. But as long as the task force is still alive, I would lose more than I would gain from killing her, and in the short term the task force will ensure she's ordered not to talk._

Soichiro said, "We cannot discuss these matters yet. I'm sure this entire building is bugged."

"Yes," Sayu said, "I forgot. I'm so useless."

After a few moments Sayu added, "But if it was the source of Kira's power, you shouldn't have traded it for us. It would be better for both of us to die. We're just two people."

_Sayu is kind of noble, but her loyalty is entirely misplaced._

Soichiro cleared his throat and shuffled his feet, and then everything became an awkward pause punctuated only by Soichiro occasionally speaking into the cellphone to prove he was still alive.

Soon there was a muffled sound as of immense machinery moving and grinding, following by a loud roaring and a vibration Light could feel through the floor. His head was clearing a bit by that point, enough for his mind to put together the clues, enough for him to think that a rocket was being launched and to admire the perverse, misguided ingenuity of it all. In a place this empty and open, it was the only real way to get the death note far enough, fast enough to possibly avoid being traced to the new location.

Well, the rocket would surely be traced, but it could be programmed to eject a small package at some point along its route, a point that Mello's henchmen were surely waiting at, ready to intercept it and disappear long before the entire route of the rocket could be searched.

If the package were well-designed and small enough, it would not show up on radar at all. The only possible way to know where it would land would be to have an insider in Mello's group confess the location. Light hoped the task force would be capable of capturing someone fast enough to intercept the death note. He itched to be in command of the group, in his rightful place, planning for them, giving orders.

If only he had his death note or a piece of it, and a name from the group, he could write that the criminal would turn himself in and answer all questions honestly. The others would never realize it wasn't a normal interrogation.

The thought that his old death note might go to criminals was almost intolerable. Almost equally awful was the thought that someone with the intelligence level of Aizawa was probably temporarily in charge of things during this critical time when the death note could slip away.

Soichiro was staring at the floor, an odd expression on his face. After a moment, he said into the cellphone, "Still here, still alive."

Light said, "Dad, we don't have much time. We need to do something. I know we can't say anything critical here, but can't I talk on the phone? I'm sure that the listening devices in this room aren't sensitive enough to pick up the other side of the conversation, and I could give orders by using any of the codes we already have set up for this purpose. If we need to, we can just walk out of here and go far enough into the desert that they shouldn't have listening devices."

Soichiro said, "The others have it under control. A helicopter and a rocket left here, and the helicopter exploded a few minutes ago. It must be on the rocket."

Sweat was beading on Soichiro's forehead. He pulled a handkerchief from his pocket and wiped it away.

Light had the feeling that something was distinctly wrong. Something was off about his father's mannerisms, and normally there should be no reason for the task force to not immediately start accepting orders from their leader.

Light's arms ached behind him, chafing against the handcuffs. He continued to sit on the dusty floor, too tired to stand up. He wanted to lie down, but it was so filthy.

Something was certainly going on. Soichiro was avoiding eye contact. He shuffled uncomfortably and continued to speak into the phone at intervals, while Sayu stood by helplessly.

Light almost wondered if he'd become a suspect again. No, that should be nearly impossible, and yet... and yet...

_The 13-day rule, plus my airtight alibi before L's death that was created by being filmed all the time and getting Rem to do it for me, together these things should have freed me from suspicion for all time._

Sayu's eyes were wide and shiny with held-back tears. She was sniffling, staring at Light.

Had Misa messed up in some way? She already performed most of the judgments personally, so the pattern of deaths should not have changed in any way, and she knew all the tricks she'd been taught with how and where to hide both death notes. She knew how to smuggle pieces of paper on her person in places too intimate to search and only use them when she was completely unobserved, and how to dispose of them without being caught if she were ever cornered, and how to get Ryuk to search for hidden cameras.

Sayu mumbled, "It should have been me, Light. I was such a coward."

Light made his expression even more upset and weary, and he was rewarded by a pitiful look from his father.

Misa lacked common sense, but she'd been trained very well, and the tests Light had set up for her had never yet exposed any inadequacies. She knew that to slip up even once on something important would cause a cutting off of love, perhaps an end of the relationship altogether.

Light twisted and rubbed his knee at the floor, trying to remove the black garter that was still on his leg. Sayu helped him and threw it far away.

Misa even knew by heart the emergency plans for what to do if things became very dangerous, for how to get a fanatically loyal Kira supporter to take over the duties with either periodically sent pages or with a borrowed death note, if the situation was dire enough that there would be no opportunity to send more pages at intervals.

Light was increasingly thirsty, the dust of the place lingering in his throat as his mind raced ahead, his suspicion beginning to focus on Misa, on anything that she could have done wrong. She'd never been left completely to her own decisions before, and suspicion wouldn't appear again for no reason at all.

If he had become a suspect, after everything he'd done to secure his innocence, after the right he'd earned to not be investigated ever again, then it was probably the end for the task force. There would be a choice between killing them all or figuring out some method to throw off suspicion again. But it was likely that any new suspicion could never entirely be gotten rid of, considering that it had cropped up when it wasn't supposed to, when Light should have been clean forever.

They were stupid, but there was a limit to how many times you could fool anyone. That's why killing was so useful. If the suspicion were anything serious, the entire task force would need to die at the earliest possible time.

Light rolled his shoulders, trying to dislodge the knots that had settled there, but nothing happened other than his hands chafing against the cuffs behind his back.

The right decision would depend on the situation. There might be a way to blame everything on Misa without sullying himself, though that would be tricky, considering how close they were. There might be a way to "prove" that some task force member had turned into a Kira themselves, and was trying to frame Light and Misa. Matsuda would be an ideal victim in that circumstance. He was known as a Kira sympathizer and he'd be so clueless that he wouldn't be able to defend himself.

Light assembled various plans in his mind, depending on which situation he'd face, carefully evaluating each one for risks and benefits, and, most importantly, for points of no return. Certain courses of action were limiting once you'd taken them, forcing you to commit to them. Some lies naturally led to unavoidable conclusions and further lies, so you needed to be sure of your path.

After what felt like an exceptionally long wait, Light could just barely hear the distant sound of a vehicle. Moments later, his father said into the phone, "We'll be coming out to meet you."

Light tried to make the tone of his voice as pitiful as possible and said, "I'm not sure if I can stand up on my own."

Instantly, Sayu was at one side and Soichiro at the other, both helping him to his feet. Light took his steps forward gingerly, as if bothered by a sore ass. In reality, it was tender, but not enough that he'd have to walk funny if he didn't want to.

They made their way across the huge room. The noise of a motor was getting steadily louder, and Light almost thought it now sounded like two vehicles. The bright open square at one end of the huge room was getting brighter, now showing blue sky through it. A slope in the floor led up to it, and as Light climbed, he at last got a glimpse of the approaching vehicles, two black vans with darkened windows.

Soichiro turned to Sayu, hugged her and said, "You'll be separated from us, but it's okay. The people I'm sending you with will hide you until it is safe to take you home."

Sayu clung to him and said, "Dad, don't leave me."

Soichiro patted her back and said, "We have work to do, Sayu. Now, it's very important that you don't talk in front of these people about anything that happened since you were kidnapped. There are secrets we need to keep in order to catch Kira. Those secrets are only for the task force. Do you understand?"

"Yes."

The vans were pulling up and stopping.

_Good. It is time we started work on getting my death note back from Mello's criminal scum._

A bulky guy in a suit got out of one van and motioned to Sayu. Light memorized his face in case he might become important later. Anyone with potential access to even the most minor of Kira's secrets might need to be killed, and there would surely be a way of discovering his name. Perhaps the names of everyone in that van were already in the task force's files.

Then the other van's back doors were opening, and Light saw Matsuda inside, along with a snarl of electronic equipment and screens, all blank for the time being. Light kept up his funny walk as he went to the van and climbed in, disappointed to see nobody else hiding among the equipment. Matsuda's face immediately went red and his gaze dropped to the floor. He fumbled around under the small ledge that held up some of the monitors, and brought out a little saw, kneeling behind Light and sawing as Soichiro shut the back doors.

Matsuda said, "Light, I'm so sorry."

Soichiro said, "Where are the clothes?" and began moving things, looking under them.

Light said, "What intelligence do you have on these criminals?"

He was only met with silence.

The van started moving and at the jolt Matsuda barely grazed Light's skin with the saw. Light hissed in irritation and said, "We don't have time right now. The notebook is getting away."

Matsuda began babbling about how sorry he was and pulled the first handcuff free, rummaging around in the equipment while saying something about a first aid kit.

Light stared at his father's back, trying to etch deep trauma into his face, but when his father turned around, Soichiro looked away and simply shoved a pile of clothing into Light's arms.

Thinking furiously all the while, Light got rid of the dress and panties and dressed himself in the offered suit, and then sat on one of the available chairs.

Matsuda hovered nearby, trying both to start sawing at the second handcuff and to bandage the small cut on Light's wrist, but Light waved him away.

Light said, "Dad, the criminals will keep the notebook unless we act now. Don't you know how hard it will be to ever find it again?"

Soichiro said, "The others have the situation under control. There is no need for us to rush."

Matsuda said, "Yeah, now there are these great guys-"

"Matsuda!" said Soichiro.

Matsuda ducked his head, apologized and grabbed at Light's cuffed wrist, bringing the saw around again. Light sat stiffly where he was, not resisting.

Light whispered, "What's wrong? Are the criminals still bugging us? Or have they gained control over you two in some way? Is Sayu safe?"

Matsuda looked as if he might say something, but he bit his lip instead and looked at Soichiro.

Soichiro said, "Light, it's a very difficult situation. We've been told to tell you the truth, and I think I agree."

"You've been told? By whom?"

_Others are involved? If this knowledge is spreading, I'll need to kill a lot of people, fast._

"It is a group," said Soichiro, "called the SPK. They are an American organization that has apparently been investigating Kira for a few years. They approached us after the kidnapping and offered to help. Their leader is called N, which we were later told stands for Near and-"

Light crossed his arms, inconveniencing Matsuda's attempt to continue to saw off the remnant of the last handcuff, and said, "Dad, is this a long story? Our first priority right now should be getting the notebook back, and our time is very limited."

Matsuda said, "Oh, that's been taken care of already."

"Yes," Soichiro said, with a glare in Matsuda's direction, "the SPK has infiltrated this criminal organization. They know exactly where the notebook will be dropped, and they believe they will be able to secure it and capture most or all of the members of this gang."

Light said, "How can we trust them? I assume that they are thinking of keeping the notebook for themselves, aren't they?"

"That is what they say," Soichiro replied, "but I do not see that we can do anything about it. They won't tell us the drop site. Perhaps it is for the best. We were not very good guardians of the notebook, or we never would have handed it over to criminals. Sayu is right."

"The Americans won't be better," Light said, "they will be worse, because if their superiors hear any hint of how Kira's power actually works, they will demand the notebook, and then it will keep traveling up the chain of command. It will either disappear with someone who intends to use it for self-serving purposes, or it will land in the hands of someone who wants to use it as a tool of war, for bending the entire world to America's desires. That would be a much worse disaster than Kira."

After a moment, Light added, "When did they infiltrate this criminal organization?"

Soichiro answered, "Weeks ago, we think."

"That," said Light, "is extremely suspicious. If they had infiltrated the group in any time before Sayu and I were let go, then they could have freed us. We didn't have to-"

Light made his voice break with strain, then averted his eyes and said in a lowered voice, "we didn't have to go through everything that happened."

Matsuda frowned and awkwardly patted at Light's shoulder. Light flinched and Matsuda's hand was removed.

"I'm sorry," Light said, his eyes still averted, "but this makes the SPK complicit in rape, kidnapping and blackmail. Those men... they nearly raped Sayu. I had to protect her... I had to offer myself. I had nothing except my body..."

Light forced out a few tears, put a shamed expression on his face and said, with a glance to the dress crumpled on the floor, "I suspect this entire situation was a ploy by the SPK, a terrible scheme to force the notebook away from us. Surely their real purpose is not to capture Kira, but to make a grab for Kira's power."

Light looked to his father's face and he could see he was getting through, he was making progress. Soichiro's expression was uncomfortable, strained, immensely sad, and beginning to redden his cheeks with shame.

Soichiro shuffled his feet on the floor, clenching and unclenching his hands helplessly, uselessly, in his lap, and said, "We don't know much, we only know what the SPK has told us about itself. Near has said to tell you everything that they tell us."

"Why," Light said, "why would you even be thinking about withholding information from me?"

Matsuda blurted out, "Because Near says you might be Kira."

Light was shocked speechless for a moment, but then his mind was quickly racing ahead to assemble the best things to say in the situation.

"What is this nonsense again? Has one of our members been getting drunk and blabbing about the former L's theories to strangers?"

Soichiro said, "Light... there is... Misa..."

_I knew it! Misa made some mistake. I should have killed her and found someone else to perform the judgments before this ever started. Anyone can trade for the shinigami eyes. I should have had a proxy Kira who can be caught without any danger of implicating me._

Soichiro continued, "Misa is under suspicion again. A video made by someone with Kira's power arrived at Sakura TV. It was broadcast, and it said it was from the second Kira. The video said Kira had been kidnapped, and it tried to both threaten and bargain with the kidnappers for Kira's return."

_That stupid bimbo!_

Light had to exert all his willpower to keep his expression perfect. He wanted to kill Misa, painfully, slowly. What she had done... it was almost the worst imaginable reaction.

_If it is even true. Perhaps something else happened to cause suspicion and they've been instructed to lie to me, to see how I react. Well, I'll never confess. I'm up to this challenge even if things are truly that bad. I've already got my father and Matsuda mostly convinced that the SPK is scum and just wants power. Only a little more pushing, and this way they'll let me investigate Misa even while I'm under suspicion._

Light said, "I didn't... I didn't want to think it, but... I love her... it can't be, but if it is true, as you say..."

Light bit his lip, waiting exactly the right amount of time, and then looked directly at his father with the most piercing and haunted gaze he could muster.

"We know," Light said in a halting voice, "we know that Misa had some connection to the second Kira years ago. The evidence proved she sent those videos, and she admitted it, though she said they were poltergeist hoaxes rather than Kira tapes. I let my feelings blind me, or we should have continued to investigate her, to discover that link. She's a Kira sympathizer with the strongest reasons for it. I told myself that even Matsuda is a Kira sympathizer, so it shouldn't matter-"

His voice choked.

In the pause, just as Light had anticipated, Matsuda said, "Light, it's not your fault. Lots of people think Kira is kind of cool, and Misa is so nice. Nobody would think anything bad about her."

Light brought his voice almost steady with a faked effort and said, "Misa could easily be a leak, a plant to watch over us, to make sure we never make progress with the investigation. Why should Kira kill us when we would just be replaced with others that Kira might not be able to watch? Or, maybe, Misa only has a link to the second Kira, and the second Kira just recently found the primary Kira. Whatever it is, Kira is acting now, starting some plan. I wish I knew what it was. Perhaps the SPK is even part of that plan. Kira might want his notebook back."

Light choked again and said, "I don't wish to think it of her, but who else could leak information like that? Nobody else knew I was kidnapped, did they? If there's any other possibility, other than Misa, I want to know."

_This way they have no reason to doubt the 13-day rule. As they think things over, I'll become less suspicious by the hour._

"No," Soichiro said, "only the task force and Misa knew. We didn't notify anyone in the NPA. I haven't even told your mother yet. I've pretended it was a sudden holiday for Sayu."

Matsuda said, "Poor Misa-Misa. Do you really think it is her?"

"I hope not," Light said, "but we have no choice but to investigate her."

"Light," Soichiro said, "will you do it? I know this is hard, but if she's a criminal, if she's helping Kira, it's intolerable."

"Yes, Dad, I'll do it. I think it will work best if I pretend I still trust her. We could do that by letting her go and giving as our reason that another task force member is under suspicion for being the leak, perhaps Ide. We could tell Misa we've locked him up, and he could just hide out in his apartment until this is resolved."

_This way, if the SPK decides to watch us, their resources will be divided._

Light thought some more and then went into detail on his supposed plans about Misa, taking pains all the while to look suitably worried and disgusted. The real plan, which he was mentally working on at the same time, was using the "investigation" of Misa to secretly communicate with her and get the information needed to fully evaluate the new situation.

Once that had been done, Misa would almost certainly be memory-wiped the moment it was feasible and probably killed soon after that. The task force would live just long enough to be used as a tool to bring down the SPK, but the exact details would depend on which emergency plans Misa had followed and several other factors.

After a long explanation of Light's fake plan, including making an outline and plenty of notes, Soichiro's cellphone rang. Soichiro answered, then his face flushed, and he handed it to Light.

A distorted voice said, "Light Yagami, I am pleased to make your acquaintance. I am Near."

"What do you have to tell us?"

"I don't have any updates for you, Kira. I will contact your team later to give a report on the situation and to receive a report in return. I asked to speak with you personally because I have a message for you. I don't know if your father delivered it as he was supposed to."

Light's stomach twisted slightly, but he said, "What is it?"

"The SPK will be watching you, Light. If any of your team members die soon, or if any of the criminals we have arrested die soon, or if those videos of the criminals' faces are released on the Internet or in any other way that would create plausible deniability for you if Kira kills them, you will be executed on the suspicion of being Kira."

_Executed?_

Light said, "Those criminals had the notebook in their possession for at least fifteen minutes, and they have already killed at least two of their own, one for the test and another for the helicopter decoy. We have no way to know if they turned on each other and killed more, more who could die over the coming days. Those thugs also knew the names of everyone on my team. What you are suggesting is meaningless as a test."

Near's voice said, "You have not convinced me to change my position. The SPK has been authorized to perform any field executions we deem necessary, and this authorization comes directly from the United States president. With the notebook, there would be absolutely no bother to carrying out your execution."

The line suddenly went silent.

Light said, "Dad, they're thinking of murdering me."

Soichiro sighed and said, "They told me to tell you their threats, but after everything you said, I wasn't sure if I should follow their plan. It would be giving up our wills, to do everything they tell us as if-"

"Executed on a mere suspicion! They are criminals, Dad. They aren't working within the law at all."

_Well, this just means I need to kill the entire task force and the SPK at the exact same time. I was already planning that, so this doesn't affect anything._

_

* * *

_

**A/N (Author's Note):**

After some lemons, the plot has finally returned. Well, this chapter is about one thing I've speculated about. I've always thought that Light would implicate Misa if given a chance to do so without implicating himself, but that circumstances restrained him from doing it (first there was Rem, and then the 13-day rule was just too important to Light's innocence).


	11. SPK

**CHAPTER 11: SPK**

Mello felt so hot inside, practically burning from pent up rage. He could almost imagine steam coming out of his ears.

_Near, you asshole. Why did you give Kira any warning at all? Why?_

Mello's voice was already raw from shouting at Near, that interfering little pipsqueak who thought he knew better. Mello didn't want to give Near the slight victory of yelling pointlessly until he lost his voice, so he was quiet, for now.

Mello simply glared out at the large room he was in, looking at nobody and nothing in particular, but making sure his disapproval was plastered on his face. His gaze slid across the four people present without sticking, instead studying the computer screens and equipment covering every wall up to the ceiling, though he periodically glared through the gaps in Near's constructed walls of tarot cards to see the pajama-clad boy crouched there.

Boy, because that's what he was. He was eighteen, yes, but he was far more childish than L had ever been, and he looked like he'd hardly aged a year in the years since Mello had last seen him. Near didn't deserve to be called anything other than a boy, a child.

A small, pale hand paused the process of stacking. Without turning around, still with his back to most of the people in the room, Near said, "Release the restraints from Mello's legs. Leave the straightjacket on."

Gevanni said, "Are you sure? Mello is more unreliable than the men you fired at his suggestion."

"Unreliable according to your predictions," Near said, "not mine. I know Mello well enough to believe the present risks are at acceptable levels. Besides, Mello provided ample proof that those men were selling information about the SPK to him. They were a far greater risk."

_Heh. They're lucky that the sorts of trials they have will be secret, or otherwise Kira would now be killing them for being willing to betray their employer for money. If Halle weren't collaborating with me purely because she thought it would catch Kira better, she'd be fired as well. I wonder if she's too angry to help me again._

Gevanni said, "He's also technically a rapist. If he gets out of the straightjacket, he could attack any of us."

Though Gevanni had said, "any of us," Mello could tell from where Gevanni's eyes lingered that he primarily meant Near.

Mello spat out, "I would never do that to Near, you fucker!"

His voice ached. It was incredibly close to giving out altogether, and he would not allow Near that satisfaction. Near simply wasn't worth the effort.

Halle said, "He is a rapist. Furthermore, he's a suicidal rapist, and since we've lost the snitches and also sent away the men Mello proved as having names that are too easily found out, this team is not equipped to deal with all of the problems he could create. Would he be better in custody somewhere else? Perhaps he wanted to pare this team down to just four people."

Rester said, "If he's not reliable, then that's all the more reason to keep watch over him personally. Besides, he could be lying about not knowing the names of those who are left. He may know some of our real names."

Near stopped stacking and instead twirled a finger in his hair as he said, "There are three reasons why I would not call Mello a rapist. The first reason is that he has not yet been convicted, and he won't be convicted regardless of what happens until after we're done. We can't possibly hand Mello over to law enforcement while the Kira case is ongoing, or Kira would kill him that way and negate most of the progress we've made."

Mello couldn't hold in his outburst.

"That's bullshit logic, Near! You were taught better than that. The evidence is clear, and I've confessed. I raped Light Yagami. See?"

The effort cost him a coughing fit, but Near ignored the sounds and continued talking.

"The second reason is that Mello could be considered to be operating under the same special powers the American president has granted to us. He is a rogue ally, but still an ally. We have been given the power to kill in needful situations, and what Mello did, although serious, was less than killing. If it truly does end up bringing us crucial clues, and if his actions were brought to the attention of our superiors, he would likely be given that allowance."

Mello gritted his teeth at the continued illogic of Near's reasoning.

Halle said, "And the third reason?"

"It is extremely likely," Near said, "that if put on trial he would be judged not guilty by reason of insanity."

At that statement, Near turned to glance over his shoulder and at seeing the hollow, blank look in Near's eyes, Mello was inflamed.

"You little shithead! You fucker! You fucker, fucker, fuck-"

Mello's voice cracked. His throat felt as if it were bleeding inside, but he took a deep breath and continued shouting, hardly able to get an entire word out, but he kept going with the obscenities anyway, his voice getting raspy and quieter until at last it was gone and he was simply breathing and feeling the sweat running down his back.

Near got to his feet with a satisfied smirk barely visible on his face. He looked so similar to L that Mello wanted to kill him for being such a copycat. Mello could only console himself with the thought that Near had gotten the posture wrong. Instead of L's slump, Near had arms that hung in a weirdly listless posture whenever he wasn't curling a finger in his hair or holding a toy.

Near said, "Now that Mello has lost his voice, go ahead and release his legs. Mello won't attack us because it isn't in his interests to do so at this time."

Mello knew it was true; it was in his best interests to remain cooperative. Still, as Rester approached to untie his legs and began working at the ropes, he couldn't stop his mind from going over various plans of how to disable everyone in the room. He only needed to knock one of Near's employees to the ground and use his feet to draw that employee's gun and aim it, taking everyone hostage.

But all of them had extensive combat training and knew exactly how to act in a hostage situation, and there were other guns in the room as well.

It was useless anyway. It was best to stay in place in case Light Yagami killed him, so Near would certainly have the evidence with no trouble involved in obtaining it.

Though Near only thought he was in charge. In reality, Near was just a small cog in the larger workings of Mello's master plan, no matter what Near tried to tell himself about it. When Light Yagami was caught, it would be because of what Mello set in motion, not Near. Near was a pawn, an assistant who was merely adding a few completing strokes to a master's great painting.

With a few last tugs, Mello's legs were free. He stumbled upright, a little wobbly, wanting to do something. He was restless, arms chafing against the snugness of the straightjacket. Waiting to die was a bitch.

Near said, "Mr. Gevanni, please escort him to the cafeteria and spoon-feed him."

Following Gevanni was easy. It wasn't so easy to sit there while the agent fed Mello like a baby, but Mello endured it. He had to. At the end, he even managed to nod gratefully after Gevanni said, "Near told me you'd appreciate ending the meal with chocolate."

He really wanted two or three bars, but that one he got did go down very well, a smooth comfort for his mouth and throat while he waited for the death that could strike quite soon, though it was probably a few days away.

That night, he was finally let out of the straightjacket when he was locked into a small, cell-like, very plain room. He rubbed everywhere he was stiff and sore, then stretched out on the bed and tried to calculate how long it would be until Near made his move.

Hours later, he was startled awake by the light coming on. Near was half-crouched in a chair next to his bed, one foot on the seat and the other on the floor. As usual, that finger was busily circling a single lock of hair.

"What do you have to say, Near?"

Mello's voice still felt slightly sore, but at least it was back. He could pretend he'd never lost it.

Near fished a folded sheet of paper from his pajama shirt's pocket and handed it to Mello.

As Mello unfolded it, Near said, "We have been communicating with the Japanese investigation team. They have sent us a copy of a sheet of paper that the real L's hired thief retrieved from the Yotsuba corporation's shredders years ago and taped back together. It is a list of a number of limitations on Kira's power that the Yotsuba group discovered, such as being unable to specify a time of death more than twenty-three days in the future."

Mello's eyes scanned the simple statements, quickly memorizing them for later use.

"Rules?"

"Yes, though I am sure there are other rules as well. For example, none of the rules that are written in the murder notebook are on the Yotsuba sheet of paper or vice versa."

Mello growled, "That's because Higuchi didn't want the others to realize Kira's power came from a notebook or from writing, dumbass. Also, the two rules written on the inside of the back cover are so convenient that I wonder if they are actually real, or if someone just wrote them there."

Near said, "I had already deduced those things. The 13-day rule is currently being tested by watching those of your men who wrote in the notebook and are still alive. In addition, I have already confirmed that a piece of paper removed from the murder notebook works just as well as the intact notebook, a fact which is not written in either set of rules."

"I proved that before, you little shit!"

"Confirmation is still necessary."

Mello stared at Near, trying to read his body language, to tell from the tilt of his head and his blank stare and the movements of his restless fingers whether now was the right time. In a few moments he was almost sure of it.

"Near, you didn't come here to talk about these things. You came here to see what I'd say off the record. You turned off the surveillance, didn't you?"

After a pause, Near said, "Yes."

Instantly, Mello had launched himself from the bed at Near. It was a simple matter to clamp a hand firmly across Near's mouth in case the room wasn't soundproof, and to wrestle his lightweight form onto the bed and tie him up with the bed sheets. Near's eyes went very wide during the process, but he barely struggled.

Mello straddled Near on the bed, waiting for the door to burst open and Near's employees to attempt a rescue.

When it didn't happen, Mello let out a low chuckle and said, "It's true then, we're all alone."

Although Near's eyes were as blank as Mello had ever seen them, almost completely dead of any emotion, he could feel the body underneath him trembling slightly. Near had probably never faced a more dangerous situation in his life. It was enough to make a disgusting sort of pity twist in Mello's stomach.

Just because Near really was that pathetic, to need to be reassured like a little kid, Mello said, "Near, don't be afraid. The only person I want to rape is Light Yagami. Now, we're just going to talk. If you scream, I'll hurt you."

Mello removed his hand.

Near blinked slowly a few times and then said, in an almost normal voice, "I assume you want to make a deal off-camera?"

"Of course I do, Near. You decided to derail my perfect plan."

"I did so only slightly, and this way saves the lives of at least Soichiro Yagami, Touta Matsuda, Kanzo Mogi-"

"Near," Mello said, "compared to Kira's thousands, a few deaths more or less doesn't matter either way. Besides, you don't care about those people in the slightest. They're complete strangers. You're not soft or sentimental. The important thing is catching Kira, and you know it. If Kira risks the lives of those closest to him as he goes down, it's regrettable but merely the cost of doing business."

"I can guess what you want, Mello. You want to die so you can have your meaningless sacrifice and believe you're doing what L would do."

"Near, you're just so pissed I 'm better than you that you've decided to sabotage a plan that was guaranteed to catch Kira. Admit it."

Mello twisted the bed sheets a little tighter around Near's wrists, producing red marks. Near hissed but otherwise had no reaction. Mello wanted a real reaction, a big one. That was the worst thing about Near, his cold, robot-like mannerisms.

Near said, "You'll hurt me if I don't agree. How immature of you, Mello."

"Whatever. L was childish too, you know. Now, let me tell you the new plan. You're going to tell Light Yagami and his team that I escaped, stealing the notebook in the process. It'll be the perfect bait. He won't be able to resist it, even with the risk. Hell, he probably won't be able to even wait very long. He would need to control me into giving his precious notebook back before anything worse happens. If I can't perform the controlled actions, I'll die of a heart attack. Either way, there will be absolute proof when I die that Light Yagami and nobody else is Kira."

"Technically, the evidence you've gathered could also be used to say that Sayu Yagami is Kira."

_He's being deliberately difficult. Near isn't this stupid._

Mello replied, "Near, I'm sure you've already taken measures to make sure that Sayu Yagami will never have access to that video, so that when I die it will clearly be a result of Light showing my videotaped face to the second Kira."

"We still don't know how the second Kira kills with only a face. Nothing about it is said in any of the rules we've found."

Mello said, "Ask the task force. I bet they know more than they've told you so far."

After a short hesitation, Near spoke in a cold, even voice.

"What will you do if I don't cooperate with your new plan?"

"I think you will. However, if you don't, then I'll just have to make it come true myself. I'll manage to steal the notebook and disappear, and I will make sure that knowledge of this situation is leaked to Kira. The end result will be exactly the same, except that it'll be more trouble for you. You have the choice whether to make this easy, or make it difficult."

Near blinked three times slowly, and then said something Mello had never expected to hear from Near.

"What about your immortal soul, Mello? Don't you want to go to heaven? Suicide is a mortal sin, so you would never get a chance to repent and therefore you would end up in hell."

Mello snarled, "Don't pretend to respect my beliefs. You have no idea what it's like to have faith, no concept at all. You don't understand the first thing about religion."

_I'm going to hell anyway. I may as well go out with a bang._

After a moment, Mello spoke again, more quietly.

"Besides, only an idiot like you would classify what I'm doing as suicide. Putting yourself in danger in order to save others is never suicide, even if the chance of dying is nearly one hundred percent. Would you say it had been suicide for a firefighter who had rushed into a collapsing building to save a trapped child, but died in the process?"

Without waiting for an answer, Mello squeezed Near's wrists again and said, "If you have any heart in you, you'll make sure my last days are filled with plenty of chocolate. I don't care if you have Gevanni spoon-feeding me, as long as-"

An alarm began to sound.

Near whispered, "The safe."

With a single yank at the knotted sheets to release Near's hands (the little fucker could untie his feet himself on his own time) Mello jumped from the bed. A few moments later, he had the door open. As he'd guessed, Near hadn't locked it, obviously to give himself a way out.

Mello crept down the semi-dark hallway in the direction of the sound, hearing it get steadily louder as he approached. He kept his head down and his hands up as his eyes scanned everywhere, hyper-alert and mindful of the fact that one of Near's underlings could appear and decide to shoot him at any time.

It didn't look good for him to be loose and Near missing. They could easily panic and try a 'shoot first, ask questions later' tactic, which would waste so much time and effort.

When he reached the main investigation room and tried to stick his head around the corner, a person suddenly tumbled over him in an elegant flip, so fast he couldn't tell who it was, and then cold steel was being pressed just behind his ear.

Halle's voice said, "Stop right there, Mello."

Mello didn't dare turn his head, but he made sure his hands were held high and said, "It wasn't me. If Kira is attacking this place, if any of you messed-"

From inside the room, Rester's voice said, "Bring him around the corner. We'll cuff him here. Something has happened to the safe."

Halle's hand on his shoulder and her gun both pushed him forward with a sure pressure, steering him around the corner and then pushing down, insisting that he sit in a chair.

Mello obeyed, and felt himself being cuffed and tied in place as he watched Rester watch the safe.

Nothing seemed amiss except for the blaring alarm. Everything was exactly the same as it had been the last time Mello had been in the room, except that Near's tarot-card walls and towers were gone.

A few moments later, Gevanni entered, escorting Near and with his gun drawn. He said, "As far as I can tell, nobody is tapping into our surveillance system and there have been no breaches."

Near said, "Well, it is obvious that something disturbed the safe."

There was a tense feeling in the room, with all of Near's underlings with their guns out but not sure quite where to point them, wavering.

And then Near went forward in his characteristic duck-like walk, feet turned a little outwards, and crawled into a chair in front of the nearest computer. He turned it on. Quickly, all the screens in the room filled with the same image: the inside of the safe, with the notebook moving by itself, hopping in place, smacking itself against the safe ceiling and then dropping to the floor. There were scratches in the metal on the inside of the safe, and as they all watched, more scratches appeared.

_What is this? Kira is trying to get his notebook back by supernatural means? Or is something else happening?_

In a musing voice, Gevanni said, "It jumps by itself, and it gouges metal without directly touching it."

_It's a notebook that kills people. What do you expect? There's something oddly consistent about those marks, though._

Mello said, "Near, zoom in on the scratches."

Near obeyed, and when Mello got a better look, he was sure of it. But Near voiced Mello's deduction before Mello could.

"It's an invisible creature. The gouges were all made by the same sort of appendage."

Gevanni said, "You mean there's a creature living inside the notebook, and it's trying to escape?"

Halle said, "Years ago, the second Kira's video mentioned a shinigami. That has to be it, right?"

_If this thing is intelligent, it can't be on Kira's side, or it would have already helped Kira destroy all his enemies. Is it Kira's prisoner? If the shinigami talks, we could learn things that would be extremely useful._

Mello said, "Shinigami, tell us what you want, and we won't hurt you. We might even help you."

All the screens showed the notebook suddenly stilled. New scratches no longer appeared.

Near said, "Mr. Shinigami, if you can scratch, you can write. Communicate with us."

Seconds later, a pen jumped from a nearby countertop and flew through the air to a stack of reports. The stack flipped over, some spilling onto the floor, and the pen moved across the backside of one flipped-over report, writing something that Mello couldn't see.

Near rolled his chair close to the proceedings, and when the pen had stopped writing, Near said, "Mr. Sidoh, that is not acceptable, for any unauthorized persons to access the notebook. Especially not any of those men we have imprisoned below."

_Sidoh, is it? And Sidoh doesn't want to help Kira; he instead wants to help my former mafia cronies?_

Halle, Rester and Near gradually drew closer, their movements cautious, and as they gathered around the stack of reports they had an entire half-private conversation with the wielder of the floating pen. Mello could only catch the spoken parts and had to deduce the rest. He could tell it was some kind of dispute about a shinigami stealing a notebook that another shinigami had dropped. Sidoh currently had no ability to kill people, and he was very concerned about getting his notebook back so he could steal years for himself from the lives of humans.

There was also something about an ownership deal, a pact between a shinigami and a human. Sidoh apparently was claiming that he couldn't become visible until the owner touched the notebook once more, and then after that happened any humans who touched the notebook would be able to see and hear him directly.

But, apparently, the owner could verbally give up ownership or die, and then any human who was touching the notebook at the time would become the new owner.

That provoked a long discussion about what to do with the ownership deal. If nobody owned it, Sidoh could simply take it and leave. The notebook apparently would become incorporeal in that case and could simply be taken through the wall of the safe.

Though Near didn't mention anything about it, Mello was sure that Near had already thought of exactly the problem that Mello himself had thought of: why hadn't the stupid shinigami just gone to the basement, threatened the owner into giving up ownership, and then grabbed the notebook and left? Sidoh was obviously an idiot for not doing that first, but there was no telling when Sidoh might suddenly think of that tactic.

Mello was certain Near was thinking the same thing. It was too obvious. Perhaps everyone else was thinking it too. It was pretty damn clear that ownership needed to be transferred to someone other than an unstable criminal, someone more convenient.

Near came up with a bogus reason to transfer ownership to someone in the SPK, and the shinigami seemed to accept it perfectly.

Then Near said, "Just in case the murder notebook has some insidious power to take over its owner's mind and corrupt that person, we want to give ownership to the one of us who is the least likely to be able to successfully steal it when opposed by the others."

At the same moment, Halle and Gevanni both said, "Rester."

To his credit, Rester didn't look offended but simply nodded. A few minutes later, the transfer was done. Rester was shaking in his shoes, looking at empty space. One by one, the others touched the notebook too and they all had their gasps of surprise, their hands hovering nervously over their gun holsters.

Up until that point, everyone had seemed to almost forget that Mello was still in the room, but then Near gave an order.

"Commander Rester, please tap Mello with the notebook."

With only a slight grimace as if he was thinking of voicing opposition, Rester obeyed, and there was suddenly a thing standing there. Mello's eyes were glued to it.

_Holy shit!_

Sidoh was tall, with a pumpkin-shaped head covered in bandages and a body swathed in layers upon layers of tattered robes. Insect-like arms protruded from the depths of those robes and clicked against each other. Sidoh looked... scared, meek, with a deer-in-the-headlights expression on his face.

_May as well try for the big stuff._

Mello said, "Sidoh, who is Kira?"

Instead of answering, Sidoh retreated towards one wall, pulling a scroll out of his robes as he turned his back on everyone. Using his body to mostly block sight of what he was doing, he unrolled it, peered at it, and then quickly rolled it up again.

Mello said, "Let me see that!"

"It isn't allowed for humans."

Sidoh tucked the scroll deep into the folds of his tattered clothing.

Sidoh said, "I have no idea who Kira is."

"Yes," Mello said, "you do. Otherwise there wouldn't have been any hesitation. What did you look at on that scroll?"

The thing had a strange face and a strange voice, and yet Mello thought he could read the shinigami well enough to tell that it was terrified at being asked that question.

Sidoh repeated, "I have no idea who Kira is."

A sudden inspiration came to Mello, and he said, "That scroll, it's a list of orders, isn't it? You have a purpose, a mission. Tell us the truth or it won't go well for you. You'll die without our help. We could keep the notebook from you until you're dead."

"Please don't do that," Sidoh said.

_What a spineless pussy. And yet everyone else here is too scared of Sidoh to push him around._

Mello gave Sidoh his most terrifying glare. Sidoh began fidgeting, and then suddenly blurted out, "I can't help you. It's a list of rules but I can't let you read the list or I'll die. There are many things I cannot tell you or it would break a rule and I'd die."

"Are those rules that Kira made for you?"

"No, they're rules that all shinigami have to follow."

"Can you tell us the rules?"

"I can tell you some of them, but you still cannot read the scroll."

_If Near won't follow my plan, I could force the issue by manipulating the shinigami. It wants its notebook back. If I promise to help it, it will probably help me, up to a point._

Near said, "I can tell what you're thinking, Mello. Mr. Gevanni, please separate Sidoh and Mello, and make sure they stay separated. We will continue the questioning without Mello."

* * *

**A/N (Author's Note):**

Wedy getting the shredded piece of paper from Yotsuba was something that happened in the manga but was omitted from the anime. There is a scene in the manga where L shows it to Misa to help convince her to chase the Yotsuba Kira.

With this chapter, I wanted to do a little more with Mello and Near, and to clarify the story by showing some of what the SPK is doing before returning to Light's predicament.

This chapter has been slightly revised from its first version in response to problems pointed out by Miss Bright. Thank you! Feedback is appreciated. Anything that is unclear or wrong from one reader's perspective probably caused problems for a bunch of readers that I never heard from, so I'm always glad to be told of those things!

I ejected from the story some canon extremely minor characters that you might have otherwise expected to see: the extra members of the SPK that are barely shown in canon (particularly, they are barely shown in the anime, but even in the manga we know very little about them). In canon, we hardly see anything of these guys before they get killed by Mello, but in my fanfic, Mello probably didn't have enough time to get a chance to physically touch the notebook before the SPK grabbed it, and he also had less motivation to kill them since he needed the SPK's cooperation.

What happened to them in my fanfic? At least two of them were snitches in my fanfic (in the manga canon, at least one was a snitch, Ill Rat, though this snitch/spy subplot was just in the manga and was never mentioned in the anime).

The rest of the extra SPK members in my fanfic that weren't snitches were sent away because, with their names too easily found out, they were security risks for the others (meaning that Kira could control them).

How many of these extra SPK agents are there? I am a bit confused about them, and the differences between the various canon versions of the story don't help. There are at least two or three extra, and possibly a whole bunch. The anime's episode 28 shows at least eight bodies sprawled around Near, probably at least ten if you count extra legs poking into the frame (though in a possible continuity error there didn't seem to be any sign of these extra agents earlier in that episode in that same room, as if they had all walked in from other rooms to suddenly die in front of Near). Also Near refers to this as "the majority of the SPK's members" which strongly implies that the surviving four are outnumbered by the dead.


	12. Lies

**A/N (Author's Note):**

I wanted to say that I slightly revised chapter 11 in response to problems pointed out by Miss Bright, so if you had read chapter 11 on or previously to Feb. 15th, you might want to re-read. Or you might not, since the change involves a minor subplot. Basically, the "snitch" subplot didn't work as I had originally wrote it, and even the revised version still didn't work, but then I finally revised it a third time and I think it probably works now without being OOC or retconning anything from before the start of this fanfic (since this fanfic is a divergent type of AU, I'm trying to keep everything previous to the beginning of the fanfic exactly the same as canon, and before I revised chapter 11 the third time I think I wasn't succeeding in that).

I have also added more warnings to the list of warnings in the author's note at the beginning of chapter 1, so read and be warned if you're squeamish about anything.

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**CHAPTER 12: Lies**

Light was shirtless and chained to the wall, his entire weight painfully borne on handcuffs that led to long chains going upward. The room was dim, with plush red carpet covering the floor and running up all the walls. Wooden tables so polished that they practically glowed were placed at intervals throughout the room, and every table had multiple candlesticks burning on it.

There were no other lights, just those candlesticks.

Light ached and tried to stretch his feet to the floor, seeking it with no relief. He was chained just slightly too far up to be able to touch it even with the tips of his toes.

The single door at one end of the room flew open and a pillow was tossed in, sliding across a table and shoving all the candlesticks it hit to the floor. Most of them guttered and went out as they fell, but as the pillow reached the table's end and tumbled after them it was set alight.

Following the pillow, Mello entered, wearing a skin-tight pink bunny suit that covered everything except his face, and he was holding a large bottle of something even pinker. Light's attention was divided between Mello's spectacular appearance and the small fire that was still some distance away, but could easily become a big problem.

Mello said, "Light, you need to take your medicine," and shook the bottle ominously.

Light felt something twisting inside his gut, and told himself it was desire.

_It's not fear. It will never be fear._

His mind started calculating ways that he could get Mello, to force Mello to submit, to rape Mello. To show him who was really boss, who was the god of the new world.

Light imagined getting Mello close enough, and at a high enough level, that he would be able to wrap one chain around Mello's neck, perhaps by tricking Mello into standing on a chair. Then he could rape him as he hung there strangling and turning purple, his eyes silently begging for help but Light would never give help, no, no, he never would.

He would only give an erect cock shoved up Mello's ass, maybe even make him come as he died for further humiliation.

Mello grabbed a lever Light had never noticed before, jutting out of a nearby wall. Light wondered if the lever was normally concealed inside the wall, the opening carpeted over.

But then he stopped thinking of that at all as Mello pulled the lever and the chains holding him up suddenly went slack, dropping him on his knees. He fell to his hands but his shaky muscles still couldn't hold him up and he fell onto his face.

Instantly, Mello was on him, flipping Light over and straddling him. Light tried to punch but his arms were weak and slow. Mello caught one wrist and laughed like he didn't care as Light's other hand batted at his face with the mild force of ordinary slaps, unable to curl into a proper fist.

_He drugged me. I can't do anything._

Light could still hear the small fire crackling somewhere out of sight, and he could smell the smoke.

"Now, Light," said Mello, "open up."

And Light wouldn't open his mouth, but Mello grabbed his jaw and forced it open and spooned the pink-pink-pink liquid in, spoonful after spoonful that Light choked on, tasting strongly of booze, but Mello held Light's mouth shut and pinched his nose until Light swallowed each one.

Mello's bunny suit was immensely distracting. Light found himself looking at the long ears, wondering if they were articulated from the expressive and complex angle each was at. The fur that brushed against Light's skin was as soft as real rabbit fur, and the entire suit was as form-fitting as anything Misa had ever worn, showing the exact shape of each one of Mello's curves, leaving very little to the imagination. His erect penis was quite apparent.

Light was already wondering how many thousands of dollars the suit must have cost and whether it had an opening for fucking when Mello leaned down and kissed him.

Light bit Mello's lip, but Mello didn't seem to mind, he just kept kissing and then started rocking against Light and suddenly a hand was in Light's underwear, palming him to a sharp, hard awareness, creating an ache, a throbbing need.

Light hated it just as much as he loved it. He started mumbling, "No, no," but his heavy, useless arms seemed to be made of lead and he couldn't dislodge Mello and he was only getting more and more turned on.

Mello took a swig of whatever pink stuff was in the bottle and laughed. Light laughed with him, forgetting everything except the growing tension in his groin and a tiny, nagging feeling in the background, a sense of something being wrong, horribly wrong.

Light gasped as his trousers were pulled down to his knees and them Mello was rutting against him, his penis sliding against Light's with a delicious friction that made Light arch up into the strokes, trying to get more and more. He could still feel the softness of the bunny suit, the fur against his intimate places driving him more wild, particularly tickling his balls.

Light spread his legs for better access and Mello rewarded him by driving each thrust more forcefully along Light's penis with rubbing so strong it was almost painful, almost too much to bear. Dimly, he thought of pinning Mello beneath him and penetrating him.

Fumbling along Mello's ass, Light's fingers found the puffy tail instead of the opening he was seeking.

"Something," Light said, "with something, it would have been better."

Sounding sleepy and drunk, Mello's voice said, "Something? What?"

Light wanted to make sense, but he had the feeling he wasn't going to make sense, no matter how carefully he might try to word what he was hoping to communicate.

The smoke made him cough. The belled cat collar was around his neck again, though it hadn't been before.

Suddenly, Mello descended down Light's body in a series of licks and soft bites, and Light barely realized it until he felt Mello's mouth engulfing his most sensitive place in a single gulp.

Lips manipulated him, long tendrils of blonde hair escaping the suit tickled him, and bright eyes locked with Light's own in the most unabashedly erotic gaze Light had ever seen.

Mumbling around the dick in his mouth, Mello said, "Light, your wonderful tail," and every word was a new height of bliss.

There was, indeed, a long, furry tail attached to Light's ass, and it was alive and he could twitch the end but he couldn't think about it because Mello was going down on him so deliciously that Light's body was taking over and the rising pleasure was spreading out to every limb from the concentrated source of it, right where Mello was sucking and sucking like a well-trained whore.

Mello pulled sharply on Light's tail and it hurt but then he was coming at the same instant and he didn't care about anything except the white-hot pulses flowing out of him.

And then he was awake, hands clenched by his sides in the sheets, trying not to look ashamed though he knew it was probably too dark to see expressions.

He was in Ide's apartment, under a sort of temporary house arrest, and Ide was in the next room, on the other side of a locked door. Light sat up, pulling the sheets down and examining them for any trace of evidence.

No, it had all stayed in his underwear.

There was an attached bathroom that Light could make use of without getting Ide to unlock anything, and he did, carefully scraping off as much of the semen as he could and flushing it, while he forcibly put the incident out of his mind. It was not worth thinking about. It was just a dream, as nonsensical as dreams always were.

The important thing was Misa. She had completely screwed up, but now that made her the key to whatever plans would follow. It was particularly important not to discard her too soon; it was important to find out exactly how long it should be until memory-wiping her, and how long until killing her, and whether the two events should coincide.

And, if it was at all possible to do so without creating more suspicion, it was important to make sure she suffered fully for her mistakes, for her many mistakes, for every single annoyance she had ever put him through.

As Light cleaned up and discreetly raided his supplies to exchange his dirty laundry for new, he kept his mind firmly focused on the future. The past was... past. The future was what truly mattered.

And then he sat on the edge of the bed for a few hours while his mind became bored into thinking up more and more elaborate ways for Near to die, until at last Ide unlocked the door.

Matsuda was there too.

The expression on Ide's face was slightly suspicious; the first time Light had seen Ide direct those emotions towards himself.

Light wanted to kill him.

Matsuda said, "Light we... um... we got the DNA test from the rape kit finished, and so far we can't find a match to any known criminal. We can't send the face out or Near would know. He has contacts in the FBI, CIA, MI6 and everywhere! You would hardly believe some of the people we've been talking to."

Ide said, "Misa's loose. She's been told I was inadvertently the leak, that I'm under house arrest and being investigated to make sure it was inadvertent. Near forced the chief to tell her about the death threat on you if any of the rest of us die."

_Well, this is good. It simply means Misa can't make the situation worse by trying to kill early. I'm the one that deserves to take their lives anyway._

Light said, "I don't want to do this but... when do I start? When do I investigate Misa?"

Ide said, "We finished rigging your apartment with hidden cameras and bugs covering everything that goes on, no matter where. There's no privacy. We've also replaced the detection devices in the equipment locker with ones that are malfunctioning but seem to be fine, so that if she gets suspicious you can make her believe the place is clean."

Light said, "And everything is hidden well enough? Nothing will be visible to the eye?"

"Yes, you'd have to take things apart to find them."

_Good, at least these idiots can do some things well._

Matsuda jumped halfway in front of Ide and added, "It's a shame that Misa-Misa got tricked again. She's so unlucky! Or maybe she got threatened with horrible things and she's waiting for us to save her from the second Kira."

Matsuda motioned with his hand and said, "Come on, Light. I'm going to drive you to the airport, so Misa can think you just arrived from America and she and Aizawa can pick you up there."

"You forgot the bugs," Ide said.

Matsuda slapped a hand to his forehead.

"Oh, yeah! Sorry about that. We'll wait while you get it."

Ide went in the other room and returned with a suit exactly like those Light usually wore. He showed Light where the bugs had been sewed into the hems of the sleeves and the legs. They could barely be felt by pressing on the cloth hard in exactly the right places, the sort of thing that wouldn't be noticed unless you were searching very thoroughly.

A little more than an hour later, Light was in the airport, waiting for Misa.

The moment he saw her, breaking through the crowds and running towards him from just a short distance away, he complimented her on her dress.

She stopped just out of arm-grabbing range, giggled and twirled for him, acting completely oblivious, as she should, as she'd been trained.

It was a signal that had been worked out between them years ago. Any praise of her clothing meant observation or surveillance, and Misa knew to act casual while being sure she didn't say anything incriminating. It was a particularly useful trick when having the investigation headquarters centered in Light's apartment, where late-working task force members could theoretically be a risk for accidentally finding out.

It also had the side benefit that Light almost never had to discuss the merits (or lack thereof) of Misa's clothing.

And then she gave in to her baser instincts, and plastered herself along his side, hooking her arm into his as she prattled on about the other models at her agency.

Light endured it and even slipped his hands behind her neck, where they would be hidden by the length of her hair. At least this time, Misa's complete lack of respect for personal space had a purpose.

She had her hand inside his suit jacket, and traced some kanji with one finger on his back, silently asking:

_**What is happening?**_

He traced on her neck:

_**We'll talk later, keep up the act.**_

They were already under visual surveillance, via cameras in the airport, and it wouldn't do to grope Misa for long in public, not when it was so against his known character and habits.

Unfortunately, they needed a good long conversation in traced kanji. Nothing could be left to chance and everything had to be fully known in as much detail as possible.

As much as Light hated to admit it, this meant they needed to fuck. There was no other good excuse for reaching their hands under each other's clothing for an extended period of time. Additionally, the task force would expect Light to cover up the act of sex with blankets while being filmed, leading to even better privacy.

All the way home, as Aizawa drove them and Ryuk lounged invisibly in the front seat, grinning like a maniac, Light kept up his act of pretending to be a bit more gracious toward Misa than usual, of preparing her with flattery and kind words for the false investigation he was about to perform.

He could juggle multiple purposes, pretending to investigate one way while actually investigating in other ways and bending various groups to his purposes.

It was a little exciting, even. It was almost like having L around again. Mello and Near were inferior foes, but they were passable after a long, boring time of not being chased at all. They would regret ever challenging Kira. They would both get crushed faster and harder than they ever expected, leaving them no chance to retaliate whatsoever.

But when Light found himself back in his apartment, with Misa serving him iced tea in nothing but a thong and a corset, it was surprisingly difficult to pretend to be interested in her. The tray of iced tea was far more tantalizing than she was. It had just enough lemon, not too much and not too little, and a ground-up fresh mint leaf had been added to each glass, exactly the way Light always wanted it.

She looked too much like Mello, and yet not enough like him.

She was aggressive, at last pulling the tray away from him and straddling him in bed, grinding their crotches together, hers already shamelessly damp.

Light was exactly the opposite. His penis was soft and curled in his trousers, not showing a single sign of interest.

She kissed him, cutting off her constant panting sounds as her glossy red lips connected with his and he tasted the disgusting lipstick.

Her hands wandered over his chest, unbuttoning his shirt. The trousers would be next.

Breaking the kiss, Light gasped, "Misa, I'm cold... the blankets?"

"Of course," Misa purred, and pulled the blankets up around them, using it as an excuse to burrow even closer to him as she continued removing the last barrier of clothing.

_That shamelessly manipulative bitch! If I ask her to pretend to have sex, I'm sure she won't cooperate. She'll throw a tantrum somehow, and I can't afford to have the slightest thing go wrong or I might end up seeming suspicious._

There were a few subjects that Misa was hopelessly stubborn and disobedient about. Almost anything to do with dating and promised sexual activities always ended up being a tremendous amount of trouble, which was why Light had long been in the habit of promising her as little as possible in those areas of life.

Light said, "Misa, I need you to suck me very, very well. Use all your skill."

As she went down on him, he traced kanji on her shoulder, indicating that she needed to tell him everything, leaving out nothing.

Then they began having a long, traced conversation about a man named Teru Mikami.

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**A/N (Author's Note):**

Light is in extreme denial about a lot of things, and that characteristic of Light, along with the style of writing I'm using where I'm writing his experiences more like fantasy rape than anything realistic, is why he doesn't have trauma of any realistic kind.

I'm think there are probably two chapters left in this, a "real" chapter and an epilogue, but it might be more than that depending on how I decide a few remaining undecided plot twists.


	13. Sacrifice

**A/N (Author's Note):**

I usually don't have pre-chapter author's notes, but I wanted to quickly mention something important before you read chapter 13. I have added new stuff to the warnings at the beginning of chapter 1, so if anything in fiction can bother you, you might want to re-read the warnings.

* * *

**CHAPTER 13: Sacrifice**

Misa was worried, worried about him always. Her mind wouldn't settle; it constantly gnawed at her, picking and picking.

Those awful criminals had come so close to destroying Light. Her Light. The criminals had all been captured by Near, the task force members had said, but Misa knew the situation was still clearly dangerous.

Just because Light was home and alive, it didn't mean that things were perfect again.

Suspicion, ugly suspicion, had settled back into their lives, an unwelcome presence.

She had been let out of her imprisonment and told that Ide was to blame for a leak that had made her appear guilty, but she didn't quite want to believe them. The suspicion had been pushed aside a little too fast after it had appeared. She wished to be fully at ease, to live her perfect life at Light's side without worrying about his co-workers betraying him. She smiled at them sweetly and wanted to kill them all, just to be sure.

Meeting Light at the airport was such a relief. Seeing him alive, she almost shouted out something a little bit incriminating, but his quick words had stopped her before she could.

What he said to her was the signal they'd practiced so many times before, a compliment for her clothing. She knew it was a fake compliment, and yet she felt a glow within her at hearing his praise.

_Light's praise._

It was what she craved every day. _His_ precious attention and appreciation. She loved it no matter how she got it.

After that, it was an embrace and a quick warning traced in kanji on her neck, and then they chatted about nothing more of any importance, all the way back to their apartment. Misa took all this to mean that they were still being observed, even out of the airport. She knew, by Light's warning and his refusal to go into detail, that there must be cameras inside the car as they were driven home, and that cameras would be in the apartment too.

Her hands twitched as she engaged in idle chatter and ignored Ryuk with her eyes perfectly averted from the shinigami, wanting to look for the spying devices and crush them all, but instead she continued with her act. She knew the next step in this sort of situation.

Under a situation with this much surveillance, the next step involved close intimate touching for more extended and detailed traced conversations. Once they arrived at the apartment, she made Light his favorite tea, stripped down to a corset and a thong, and found him in bed, unfortunately with his laptop spread across his knees.

As usual, Ryuk realized what the scanty clothing meant and found an excuse to slink through the wall into a neighboring apartment.

They were alone and the need was extreme, and yet Light was still waiting, lingering over the tea. Each sip put an expression of appreciation on his face, and Misa felt a little thrill in her stomach. He really did like it, even though he almost never said anything about it.

She tried to insinuate herself without being too intrusive. Before sex, he was always so flighty, easily put off by a strong approach. Over the course of their physical relationship, she had learned to soften her approach as the actual event became nearer, to reduce the chances of sex being suddenly withheld.

Even this time she was holding back, when it was an urgent enough situation that it shouldn't matter because sex needed to happen regardless, and yet Light was still delaying, still showing no interest, or almost none.

Misa displayed herself draped across the foot of the bed, her nipples poking over the top of the corset, her stomach arched, one hand toying with the flimsy cloth of her thong. She knew that her pose and the scene looked like a photo shoot.

A photo shoot with one of the top models in Japan, showing more than that model would show for the public. It was the dream of many guys but not so much for Light. He was strong and proud. She had to work for every bit of sexual attention from him and whenever she got it, there was a tremendous sense of accomplishment, a feeling of truly deserving it. She knew she earned every touch, every kiss, every sexual encounter.

He barely glanced her way, still involved in his iced tea, though thankfully he had gotten rid of that laptop.

_We need to talk, fast, can't he realize that?_

Although she tried not to think such things, sometimes she thought Light was rather foolish.

Misa waited, her breathing getting faster. She could feel her thong dampening and hated the idea that Matsuda, Aizawa, Mogi and worst of all, Light's father, were probably all watching. Well, they would see a flawless performance by a well-trained actress, so they would never suspect a thing, and then, as soon as Light said it was okay, they would all die.

_Misa is a perfect helper for Light._

She kept her smile plastered across her face as she struck various poses and waited for him to finish with the tray of iced tea, but as last it was simply too much. She crawled into his lap and pushed the tray away from him, settling it onto an end table.

He looked a bit surprised (an act?) but he accepted her hungry kisses and her pressing of her damp crotch between his legs. There wasn't anything but softness to grind against, but it felt awfully good to hold him and touch him and kiss him after such a long and worrisome time.

She was undressing him and kissing him at once, so eager her hands were trembling, unable to stop one process to do the other better.

He broke away from the kiss and said, "Misa, I'm cold... the blankets?"

"Of course," she said, and moved to obey, feeling a surge of happiness at the thought of how very good she'd been to wait until his cue, despite her own feelings.

The watchers would no longer being able to get a good view. Those perverts! They were probably too stupid to think that two people might willingly have sex while under surveillance, so they were already halfway to being fooled, even before Light unveiled whatever brilliant plan he had surely thought of.

Light said, "Misa, I need you to suck me very, very well. Use all your skill."

She immediately went to work, teasing that organ with every trick her mouth knew. She was used to it. He often needed quite a bit of stimulation, and it really was fun to force him to respond. He might say he didn't like sex much, but his body showed unmistakable signs of liking it very much, as long as he was primed well enough first.

His hands went to her shoulders under the blanket.

_Finally! He finally begins it. _

Safely hidden away from betraying eyes, he started tracing the shapes of kanji. His question was:

_**Where are both our notes?**_

She answered with traced kanji on his thigh, without breaking the rhythm of her mouth slurping on his most sensitive part, feeling proud and a little scared. She described exactly where her own death note had been buried, and how she'd selected a fanatical Kira supporter, a lawyer named Teru Mikami, to continue the judgments with Light's borrowed death note. Since Mikami wasn't an owner, he couldn't trade for the eyes and he would never be a threat. He could be killed off or controlled into any convenient action without ever knowing who Kira was or who the second Kira was.

Misa could tell Light didn't like the story from his clenched muscles and his extremely reluctant penis, only slowly becoming semi-hard and then lingering at that stage. He waited, though, until she had finished describing every last detail she could remember of what she had done and seen and been told during his absence.

Then he was touching her again and she couldn't quite follow his fast, angry tracing and had to make him repeat himself.

It was difficult to pay full attention to the traced shapes when her body was shuddering in need and arousal, every part of herself practically crying in delight from his closeness and his warm bare skin. It had been such a long time and she'd so wanted to touch him during all the time he'd been missing and in danger. It was a pent-up need more than ever before, but she forced herself to concentrate and then she was able to catch most of the words.

Light was angry. He was scolding her. He said she'd done almost everything wrong. She tried to keep the tears from her eyes and kept working on him, but now his cock was suddenly responding, rock-hard and growing in her mouth.

_He really does love Misa._

But she wanted to die. His words were very cruel. He especially criticized her decision to bury her own death note and loan out his instead of the other way around. He described how that one fact would block many potential plans, because now his memories were held by a stranger who might decide to burn his notebook or who might lose it or get it stolen, while her memories were extremely unlikely to get destroyed.

He emphasized:

_**Because of the mistake you made, if I want to use a plan where Mikami would get ownership or a plan where you would temporarily give up your memories again, I can't do it, and it's all your fault! What's worse, I could lose my memories completely by accident and then I would be suspicious of you, while you would be the only one with a chance of getting my memories back. You're not skilled enough to outsmart me in that situation. I would probably lock you up for good.**_

She climbed up his body to ride him. She loved the way he, at the moment of penetration, had an uncontrolled facial expression that flashed through his face. They experienced it together as his engorged rod slid between her folds. It gave her the immense satisfaction of feeling his fullness internally, a comfortable stretching and pressure as he seated himself completely. She rubbed her clit with her fingers because he never would.

His tracings faltered as she repeatedly drove her body downward against him. As soon as he stopped tracing, Misa traced:

_**Misa would do that for you, if you asked. Misa would give up her memories and then, after she got them back, trade for the shinigami eyes a third time.**_

He was harder than usual and it felt splendid inside her. After a short pause, he traced:

_**Remember what you said when we first met? You promised I could kill you if necessary. You offered your life to me, and instead of taking it I preserved you all these years. I love you, Misa. You have at several critical times proven yourself a liability for my perfect world, but I kept you anyway, even if it was difficult for Kira, because it was good for Light Yagami.**_

Her heart thumped harder than ever. She wanted to die from shame, and yet she was a little bit proud.

_He really loves me. It's tragic, but so beautiful!_

_Misa will do better!_

He began to explain his plan. There were a few people who needed to be killed, but not until he smuggled their pictures to her and gave the signal. He explained exactly which decisions she would be allowed to make on her own if it so happened that he became completely unavailable during certain emergencies, and which decisions she never could.

She built up a sweet rhythm that made bliss spread through her body and made her doubt her ability to understand everything he traced, but he seemed to sense this and repeated all his statements several times, and also made her repeat the important parts back to him.

He had an elaborate plan for how to deal with Teru Mikami. The man could be controlled from a distance as long as Misa was able to secretly access one of the stashes of removed pages that Light had created for emergencies like this, and pass a scrap to him according to a plan that shouldn't get him caught.

Once controlled, Teru Mikami was going to do whatever it took to get a notebook that looked exactly like the real thing, but was a fake, and then Mikami was going to be caught and the judgments would stop for a time, until after all the investigators on both teams were dead.

Light and Misa would then be able to dig up the real notebook that Mikami would have buried while under control, they would recover the third notebook from Near's team, and they would reign unchallenged. Even better, Light would marry her then.

There was only one little problem. Because of the mistakes Misa had made, there weren't many options for generating false leads that would cause the task force and the other investigators to suspect Mikami.

Light traced:

_**Misa, you are going to have to make the sacrifice that you promised to me when we first met. You might die, but as long as everything goes according to my plan, our enemies will all die before they could ever execute you. I'm going to interrogate you, and you'll slip up and confess that the second Kira was in contact with you before you met me, and was using you as a shield and a leak all along. Because you're sympathetic to Kira, you've been passing information to this unknown person and have never tried to resist or to trick this person. **_

_**I will become very angry with you and threaten to turn you in and to end our relationship. You'll cry and become very distraught and at last we'll reach an agreement that you'll help us catch the second Kira in hopes of stopping that person and finding the real Kira. This will confuse Near's investigation and will also draw his team close. Near won't be willing to let the task force investigate independently and unwatched. However, he'll be unwilling to move in on us, because of his fear that Kira might be someone unknown to him who will escape if the investigation is not done thoroughly first.**_

_**I will reveal that the task force has cameras all over this apartment and that since your confession of being a spy was caught on camera, you have no choice. To have any hope of reducing your own punishment, you must fully cooperate with us. Make sure you cry a lot and make it as emotional and realistic as possible.**_

Then Light made her trace back to him all the little details of how she'd behave and what she'd say. He had his orgasm in the middle of that but the tracing continued under the pretense of cuddling. The task force would never realize that after-sex cuddling wasn't usual. It continued until Light was satisfied that she had every possible detail memorized correctly.

Misa's heart felt glad at the thought of the good work she'd do. She wanted to be useful, and she would be useful, and he was showing his appreciation already.

Light would forgive her. His physical presence was immensely comforting. She breathed in the scent of his hair and skin, nestling her face into the crook of his neck. She clung to his spent, sweaty body and touched between her legs, rubbing the outside and penetrating the inside until she brought herself to a shuddering climax.

* * *

**A/N (Author's Note):**

I'm sorry this chapter took months to appear. I have all the usual excuses: being busy with other things, some illness, computer problems (don't worry, I'm obsessive about keeping back-ups) and plain old writer's block too. I had this chapter outlined months ago but it was hard to get in the mood to write from Misa's POV.

I felt very sorry for Misa writing this chapter. She really is a pathetic fool.

She's not stupid, at least not overall, but she's far less intelligent than either Light or L and she's extremely stupid in certain specific ways. She has some serious blind spots, she's obsessive, and she has no wisdom.

But she's such a pathetic creature that there's a bit of something there to tug on the heartstrings when she gets thoroughly used over and over again. What's worse is that there is no way for her to live a good life even if she gets what she wants. She got what she wanted in canon, and it was unpleasant to see her in that situation. She probably thought she was happy, but I imagine it was a highly delusional kind of happiness and if I were a Misa supporter it's not the kind of "happily after ever" I would wish for her.

I'm pretty sure now that there are just two chapters left, "Chapter 14" plus an epilogue. I hope to surprise you (or at least to please you, if you aren't surprised) by the one or two major plot twists that are still to come. Misa's POV will not return. Everything remaining is in Light's viewpoint (partly to keep up the suspense, because if you see exactly what Mello is doing from Mello's POV it would decrease the suspense). However, even though Mello's POV will not return, Mello himself will.


	14. Names

**CHAPTER 14: Names**

Extracting Misa's "confession" was an ordeal. Her tears and emotional displays were tiring, grating on Light's nerves. They tested his patience and felt like a burden on his very soul. He had to push himself to play his role, to display what the task force needed to see and to school his features to not reveal what he was really feeling.

He wanted so badly to slap her when she messed up a few of the details of what she was supposed to claim. Her performance was entirely believable, and was flawless other than those few details. They were things that shouldn't matter, but still, it was awful to see anything that might become an issue later, if things went down certain paths. Misa was an unreliable failure and she needed to be disposed of as soon as possible.

Ryuk wandered in halfway through Misa's tirade, as soon as Misa was dressed decently, and spent most of it either laughing uproariously or gamboling about like a delighted small child.

Light displayed love on his face at the right times, anguish on his face at the right times, and let Misa cling crab-like to his arm and soak him with tears for a full 18 minutes, far longer than he had ever endured an arm-cling before, let alone a tearful arm-cling. Misa was a truly disgusting creature.

He was so elated when it was over and the task force rushed in that it was difficult to keep the worried anguish of a betrayed boyfriend on his face.

Light gave everyone a serious glance and then gave Misa's shoulders a shake and said, "Do you see how it is Misa? I'm very ashamed of you. I'm sure we could have caught Kira years ago if you'd only confided in me."

Misa produced a few more tears and said, "But my parents! You have to believe Kira was righteous then, don't you?"

Matsuda said, "Misa!" and tried to move forward, but Aizawa shouldered him backwards.

Soichiro cleared his throat and said, "Misa, it isn't ever justified to commit more crimes because of previous crimes. We will have you put on trial-"

"No, Dad," Light said, "we can't do anything like that until we've completed a full investigation. We don't yet know if the second Kira is in contact with the real Kira, but in any case, if the second Kira thinks Misa has defected to our side, it is likely Misa will die and us as well, since our names and faces have been leaked. The second Kira didn't kill us earlier because we were more valuable alive. If we had died before, we would have been replaced with a new team without a leak in it."

Aizawa said, "So what you're saying is that Misa is keeping us alive? If the leak stops leaking, everyone dies?"

"Yes!" Misa shouted, "I've saved every last one of you. Can't you be kind?"

Mogi said, "Why didn't we die when we locked Misa up?"

Light answered, "Because Misa wasn't publicly charged with anything, that's why. If you charge her publicly or if she disappears for too long or if things otherwise become suspicious, I am sure the second Kira will strike, unless the second Kira is caught first. In fact, to lower suspicion, we have to quickly put Misa on something like her old schedule, with her seemingly coming and going freely."

_This will give Misa plenty of chances to run off and get notebook paper from one of the stashes._

Light turned to Misa and pulled her tear-streaked face up and away from his arm, looking into it sternly.

He said, "Misa, I will personally see that you are put on trial and executed as an accessory to mass murder unless you cooperate with us in every way. You will do nothing on your own. Do you understand? If all of us die, Near's team will arrest you."

Misa gasped out, "Misa understands. I love you Light, and I would never hurt you."

Light wanted to throw up at the sugary-sweet tone in her voice.

Instead, he continued with, "Tell us exactly how you leak information to the second Kira. Leave nothing out."

Just as they'd rehearsed with the traced kanji, Misa said, "At the first of every month, I'm supposed to go to a certain street corner where there are no public cameras, and when nobody is looking I turn over a trash can there and check the bottom to see if anything is taped to it. If there are instructions, I follow them. The second Kira already has all your names and faces. Usually it is requests for summaries of what you've been doing lately with the investigation."

Matsuda said, "Oh, that's simple! We'll just set up cameras and catch the second Kira leaving Misa some instructions, right?"

Light said, "What's the address, Misa?"

Just as she'd been instructed, Misa hesitated and glanced around the room as if reluctant, and then gave the names of the two streets.

Light said, "What happens if you don't go?"

"Sometimes I'm a few days late getting the instructions, but I've never been scolded so I think the second Kira doesn't watch that place."

Soichiro said, "It's nearing the end of the month. We might catch this guy soon. He's either going there in the next few days or if we've already missed him, we'll catch him next month."

"Yeah," Aizawa said and snapped his fingers.

Everywhere around the room, even on Mogi, there were excited smiles.

_Their attention is already shifting away from me and I've also secured a great deal of freedom for Misa's movements. I've given myself plenty of leeway in case I can't write down Mikami's name right away. This will make things much easier. It's so simple to fool them. L would have never fallen for something like this._

Matsuda said, "Since we're not pretending Ide is the leak any more, can he come back here and help us?"

Soichiro said, "That is his choice. What we need to do now is to contact the SPK."

Matsuda said, "Light, we have to check in daily with Near, or otherwise he might kill you from a distance or storm this place to take you prisoner. I'm sorry, but it has to be done."

Misa shrieked, "Wait, so you're going to have more pervy pervs watch Misa have sex? That isn't good!"

Light pressed on Misa's shoulders to make her sit down on the bed and then said, "Stay here, Misa. We're going to go to the investigation room and have a meeting there without you."

He left the bedroom, noting that all the men fell in behind him as he led the way.

_They're already thinking of me as their leader again, and not as a suspect. Just as planned._

Light took his place in a chair before the bank of multiple monitors and turned on the computer system. He said, "I assume that the SPK has already loaded spying software onto our computers, that they have disabled all wireless modems, and that they are monitoring all outgoing lines?"

There was a brief, strained silence, and then Soichiro said, "Yes. They were here for quite some time and made a number of modifications. We've been told all our cellphones are tapped as well, along with all the phones of our friends and relatives."

"And they already have the video of what has just occurred?"

"We think so. They are probably watching us now. If not, it is being recorded somewhere and they will watch it later."

_If I need to do anything too suspicious, I will take out the cameras with my secret weapon, but that can only be used once._

"I don't like him!" Matsuda said, his voice straining with emotion.

Soichiro sighed and said, "Considering the threats Near has Light under, we don't have much choice but to cooperate."

Matsuda let out a short, bitter laugh and said, "I think we need to figure out a way to cooperate less, if we can. Near is... he's... I keep thinking about this. He reminds me of Ryuzaki."

Heads around the room snapped upwards. The original L wasn't a normal topic. When the task force talked about the early part of the investigation, often it was as if the original L had never existed.

Matsuda said, "Not in a good way, either. Near is like Ryuzaki, but worse. When Ryuzaki was alive, he often tried to go too far, but if we yelled at him he'd try something different instead. It was never this bad. I keep remembering how Ryuzaki saved my life, when he could have left me there with the Yotsuba guys to die, and he probably could have gotten all the proof he needed that night. Maybe he wouldn't have died later, either. Maybe something happened with the car chase that killed him."

There was a tense silence that stretched out, and then Aizawa said, "Yeah, I get what you mean. I have that feeling too. When we talk to Near it feels like Ryuzaki is back from the dead, but he came back as more of a bastard than ever before."

"I don't mind," Light said, "I'll stay here and be watched at all times to prove my innocence, for as long as it takes for everyone to be satisfied. Don't be shy if you have doubts. I am sick of Kira for targeting me; I'm not angry at any of you."

_If anyone gets caught, it will be Misa. I'm almost completely safe at this point._

Aizawa clenched his fists and said, "We shouldn't have to ask permission from Near to conduct our own investigation. We're this close to catching Kira. We're the ones who've spent years chasing him, and we've got more data than any other ten groups combined!"

Light found what he thought were the proper files and, before opening them, said, "Are these just the faces of the kidnappers?"

Soichiro said, "Yes... we... uh... we cut out the rest of the two videos and locked those recordings in the evidence locker."

_Good. We don't need Misa freaking out too badly._

Light brought up all the faces on the screens.

_Now Misa. You know which one is Mello from my description._

Light said, "So Near has indeed captured all these men? Not one has escaped?"

Matsuda said, "Yeah, Light. Except a few who died. I know you're mad after... after it all... but they're not important any more. They'll probably get executed by Kira as soon as Near finishes questioning them and lets them go to trial."

"They are important," Light said, letting the anger seep into his voice, "because at least one was Near's man. This game is more complicated than we know. Near has the notebook now, so what does he want? The other notebook? Whoever had both could rule the world."

Aizawa said, "Shouldn't we speculate about these things away from the cameras?"

Light said, "It doesn't matter. Near already knows we suspect him. Speculating in the open doesn't hurt us, but it does show Near's underlings that if they are nervous about his intentions, they should think about telling us what is really going on. We're the professionals in investigating Kira, after all."

_It probably won't work, but it never hurts to leave some bait out for the rats._

An "N" logo appeared on all the screens and a scrambled voice said, "It's pleasant to hear I'm a subject of conversation, Light Yagami. I thought I might mention that Misa Amane is peeping around the corner."

Everyone turned to look at the back of the room. Misa wasn't visible, but then she said, "Misa has a right to know if loads of stinky old perverts are going to watch her sex tape!"

_She knows Mello's name! I'll write his name at the same time as all the others, but I'll leave him alive longer. Mello! I'll rape you to a bloody pulp, until you're nothing more than a smear on the ground, a puddle of flesh. Before it ends you'll cry like a baby, beg for mercy, and come at my command over and over again._

Light said, "Mogi, please escort her back to the bedroom and lock her in."

As Mogi moved to obey, Near's scrambled voice said, "Light Yagami, I believe you are intelligent enough to have thought of that in the first place."

Light snapped, "I was distracted because the love of my life had just confessed to being a leak to Kira, that's why!"

_Near thinks he's setting a trap, but he's already failed to completely prove that I purposely showed these faces to Misa. If any of these men die, Misa is doomed and I'll be in trouble, but I might still be able to squeeze through this loophole. _

_It won't matter, though, because the SPK and the task force will both be dead before that time. I just need one member of the SPK and then I can get the names of the entire group. Get ready to die, Near!_

Light added, "More importantly, the lives of everyone here will be at risk until we set Misa free. We're going to disobey your orders and send her out as soon as we finish talking. If your agents interfere we will have them arrested. Time is of the essence."

Matsuda said, "Yeah, you can't threaten us into keeping Misa prisoner, because our lives are on the line!"

Near replied, "Very well. As long as Mr. Mogi watches her at all times, I do not have a problem with this. Do you have any other demands?"

_He's baiting me, to see if I will ask for less surveillance or anything else that would benefit Kira. You'll see, Near. I can kill you with the cameras running or without, it doesn't matter. I have all the tools I need within my grasp._

Light replied, "You've already heard that we have reasons to not trust the purity of your intentions. Why don't you prove yourself to us and to your own agents by allowing our team to investigate your team?"

"What would your suggestions be?"

"First," Light said, "I would like to conduct interviews with all your prisoners. If you've lied about what actually happened when you snatched the notebook from them, it is our right to know. We are also suspicious about your claim to have an agent embedded within the mafia group, and we'd like to confirm or deny that directly."

The electronic voice said, "That is not possible at this time. I will think about it. Perhaps tomorrow."

Aizawa shouted, "Is that to give you time to prep the prisoners into giving the responses you approve of? Put at least one on the phone right now!"

"Mr. Aizawa, you perhaps forget that I am the one who could end all your lives with a few strokes of a pen. I am the one who will be giving orders. Goodbye for today."

The "N" logo disappeared.

There was a chilled silence, and then Mogi said, "I suppose it's best to get Misa out right now? I'll call the studio and arrange a photo shoot."

Light said, "Yes."

Aizawa slammed his fists down on a table beside him and said, "I hate Near! I hate that little shit!"

The sentiments were echoed all around the room, with voices, clenched fists or strained facial expressions.

_Good. They already think of Near as the criminal, and myself as the heroic leader. Things will only get better from now on. Perhaps, if their loyalty is strong enough, I might even let them live at the end._

Minutes later, Misa was on her way, ready to launch the next stage of the plan.

While out, she would access one of the paper scrap stashes Light had pre-positioned for emergencies. The best stash was in a bottle of headache pills that had been "lost" in the dressing room of a model acquaintance of hers.

All the pills except two were normal. Those two were fakes, sealed waterproof capsules that would not dissolve in the stomach and contained pieces of death note paper folded over many times.

Misa was to "take" the two pills and conceal them in her mouth all the way home, transferring them with a kiss. It would completely thwart the cameras. If she were searched too thoroughly before being allowed back inside, she would swallow the pills and then vomit them back up under the covers in bed so that the pills could be plucked out unseen.

If she were prevented from vomiting for long enough for the pills to enter her intestines, then there would be a wait until they could be extracted from the other end, and perhaps a different stash would be accessed in the meantime if there wasn't enough time for waiting.

It worked exactly as planned. Misa was back a mere three hours later, transferring both "pills" with a kiss. Light had to wait until that night, when he was able to spit both out under the covers. He stashed one in a tear in the mattress for later use. The other he broke open immediately and carefully unfolded the paper.

He wrote down a death for Teru Mikami using a pen he had earlier slipped into his sleeve from the depths of a drawer filled with odds and ends, where the cameras also couldn't see.

Teru Mikami would bury his real notebook exactly where Light specified, destroy any scraps removed from the real notebook, create a fake notebook, and then with this fake notebook on his person would go to the supposed drop-off place and flip over the correct trashcan. He would not talk about notebooks, supernatural things, killings or anything that was secret for the rest of his life.

Mikami would have a severe nervous breakdown and kill himself before the 23 days were up.

For the time Mikami would go to that street-corner, Light specified within the next few days. The next month was outside the 23-day limit, and too far in the future was out of the question anyway, because it was important to end everything before the 13-day rule could be conclusively tested.

Light ate both the paper and the plastic scraps of the broken capsule. The pen he pushed into the same tear in the mattress as the whole capsule, for later writing sessions.

During the night, Misa traced a complete report of her activities onto Light's skin, including nothing of importance except Mello's real name.

Early the next morning, Light was dragged out of bed by the entire task force appearing in his room and shaking him awake. Matsuda led away a sleepy Misa, saying, "I'm sorry, but Near's agent has to question you. The van is just outside."

Light glanced at the clock and said, "What's this about? It's not even five yet."

_Did Mikami move this soon? Have they grabbed him, like idiots, or will they follow him for a few weeks in hopes of learning about the "real" Kira?_

Soichiro said, "Near contacted us. Mello has escaped with the notebook. His plans are unknown. It happened minutes ago."

_Mello could write down my name. He believes I may have one more notebook, and he'll want to force me to hand it over. I have to act fast and kill him first._

_Even if this is a trap meant to test if I'll kill Mello, it doesn't matter._

_Once Mikami is dead with no leads on the real Kira, I'll be in extreme danger again. Near could easily lose patience and simply kill me outright. I need to end it all within 23 days anyway, so killing Mello is not going to have any effect on me, no matter what. It won't prove a thing because everyone will already be dead._

Light's hands itched to access his capsule. It was so close, but there were cameras and everyone was trying to rush him out of the bedroom.

Light said, "Just... let me get dressed first. I can't think when I'm in my pajamas."

Soichiro grabbed Light's arm hard, pulling him along, and said, "Mello could kill all of us. He has our names; he knows we're out to get him. If Near's agents don't catch him immediately..."

_I need to create an emergency and destroy these cameras. I may have only moments to live if I don't. Where is Ryuk?_

Just as they entered the investigation room, Light saw Ryuk, in the process of sliding away through a wall.

Light screamed, "We're all going to die!"

It was the signal phrase he'd told Ryuk years ago, and he'd reminded Ryuk of it at periodic intervals.

Everyone crouched down and looked around nervously, as if a shooter might appear.

Ryuk continued sliding through the wall.

_Did he hear? Are they taking Misa far enough that Ryuk will be out of range for the trigger?_

Soichiro said, "What is it, Light? What happened?"

"Mello is going to kill us! Don't you see? He has the notebook, and motives to attack, and-"

The lights went out.

_Good work, Ryuk!_

Aizawa said, "Why aren't the back-up generators kicking in?"

Light ran for his bedroom, barely able to see his way. It was dark except for a bit of light from outside streetlights, filtering in through the window shades.

Everything electronic in the entire building was fried, permanently. Ryuk's action had set off an electromagnetic pulse generator in the basement. There were no longer working cameras to record anything.

_Near, I'm sure you didn't think to protect any of your cameras in Faraday cages! That's the only way you could see me now. That or peeping though a hole in the wall._

It took a bit of scrambling to find the capsule and the pen. Light had closed and locked the door behind him, but the others had the key, and he could hear them milling about and shouting in fear and confusion. It might be only moments until they became suspicious.

He whipped out the paper, wrote "Mihael Keehl" and followed the name with a very painful cause of death, and within the first sentence stated that "Mihael Keehl" would be unable to write anything for the rest of his 23-day life. Once that was finished, Light breathed a little easier. His mind worked fast as he continued to write down details. An interruption could come at any moment.

After securing the notebook in a place of Light's choosing, Mello would go to a place Light had had in mind for a while.

Light sometimes felt the urge to admit his identity to certain dying criminals and gloat over them as they died, so he already had filed away in his mind a number of potential places where such acts could occur. Abandoned warehouses, forested trails, and other out-of-the-way locations. It wasn't something Light did often, and he was always very, very discreet, careful not to leave any physical evidence on the scene. Usually he would control a different criminal to later visit the area and dispose of the body.

Light remembered one place that had caught his eye before the kidnapping incident ever happened. A very special place with unique characteristics.

It was a small hotel that had been closed down for renovations for a few months, but it had never received them because it had become involved in a property dispute that was still going through the courts.

It was a bit out of the way, empty, probably easy to break into, and best of all, because it was in an un-owned legal limbo, there wasn't even a caretaker in charge of it. They were relying on the low-crime area it was located in to keep out squatters and vandals.

The hotel was a perfect place to store a criminal for possible long-term play. Light had already mentioned it to Misa as part of a contingency plan for if she had ended up needing to write Mello's name instead.

According to what Light wrote, Mello would be controlled to go there in a few days and to bring enough food and water to keep himself alive. Once Mello arrived, he would be extremely obedient to whatever he was told. It wasn't possible to make him obedient to "Light Yagami" in particular, but since he'd be isolated and unable to leave it was a very good gamble that he wouldn't be receiving orders from anyone else.

Light tried to think of anything else to add but he could hear the key in the door and so he quickly stuffed the paper into his mouth, flung away the pen, and crawled into bed.

His father came into the room.

Light hid his smiling face under the covers and said, "I'm sorry father, I've been a coward-"

He made his voice break and used the pause to chew on the paper some. It was quite a bit of work.

A weight settled down onto the bed, and then Light felt a hand on his shoulder.

"Son..."

Light chewed more. It really was difficult with trying to dispose of this much paper fast, while also trying not to make chewing noises. He forced a shiver through his body and the hand tightened on his shoulder.

Suddenly he was suspicious that Near had written down Misa's name, that Near's agents were even now getting her controlled confession. Near may have kept a scrap, and he only needed to write down that she'd be completely honest at certain times and acted normally the rest of the time.

Light cursed himself for not killing Misa sooner. He wondered if the wet pulp in his mouth were still usable.

_No, I can't think that way. If Near had thought of this, he would have written Misa's name down before I ever arrived home and Misa would have confessed everything openly. Because he didn't think of it then, he hasn't thought of it now. I'll kill Misa the next time she brings more paper, and then I'll know she can't confess._

Light said, "Dad, ever since Mello did... that... to me, I can't think straight. I hurt inside as if I'll never be okay again. And now, and now, we could die at any time and maybe we'll even be controlled before our deaths. Mello could... again. I know he wants to, Dad, I know he does!"

Soichiro's hand shivered. In anger, Light thought.

"Light, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have been so weak, to think that nobody knew about the notebook and we would never be targeted. I should have protected everyone better."

"It's okay, Dad."

Light snuggled into his father's thigh and used sobbing sounds to further cover up the chewing. They said little, but his father patted his head from time to time and said things like, "I believe in you, Light" or "I'm sure we'll catch Kira soon" while various task force members wandered in and out in a grim panic.

At a certain point the door was locked again and Light heard indistinct, strange voices on the opposite side.

They left him alone for most of the day, letting him stay in bed and pretend to have his little mental breakdown so that it wouldn't seem strange that he had run to his bedroom and locked himself in as soon as the cameras fried. Most of them were not in much better shape. Everyone expected to die soon.

There were a few updates throughout the day. The SPK had found the burned-out remains of the crude, short-range EMP device and were trying to determine who had placed it there and when. The task force was being very belligerent and refused the placement of new cameras. They were newly brave at the knowledge they might die anyway.

Some cooperation was going on between both groups, in order to watch the street corner Misa had specified. Mikami had not yet appeared.

Over the next few days, things became almost like they used to be, save for the electricians re-wiring everything and the new computers being brought in and loaded up with the off-site back-ups. Misa came and went easily. Light obtained more paper and secured her mouth against confessing anything that she didn't freely wish to confess, so that their bedtime updates wouldn't end.

Mikami did finally appear but was not arrested, both sides instead trailing him and competing to see who would search his home, his desk at work, and his gym locker.

If a fake notebook had been found, neither side spoke of it.

The judgments had already stopped, of course. Things were tight enough already, without trying to set up a Mikami replacement. Light put his full concentration into trying to create a situation to access the SPK in just the right way. Some elements were already moving into place. It would not be long, Light knew, until everything was ready and all of them were dead.

There was one thing through it all that nagged at Light's thoughts. Light knew exactly the hour when Mello would arrive at the abandoned hotel, to set himself up and obediently wait to be raped. Light anticipated it as it approached, keyed-up with excitement, barely able to hide his condition from the task force.

Mello would keep; yes he would, for all of his remaining lifespan.

But Light wanted to go. Things had changed. There wasn't as much surveillance and there was a great deal more trust. There was no more talk of forcing Light to stay in the apartment at all times.

Light tested his freedom with an unchallenged visit to a nearby convenience store. It was easy. There was a tail, some guy Light didn't recognize, but one tail could always be gotten rid of with enough effort.

The empty hotel was central in Light's thoughts. Mello would be there, wonderfully obedient, and he'd answer every question honestly, just as Light would demand. Mello might have clues that would help in killing the SPK. It would be a waste to let him sit too long.

As Light thought of it more, he really saw it was the best idea. Just a little visit, and a little rape to top it off after the questioning was done.

It took an hour and a few complicated zig-zags, but Light lost his tail at last and headed for the hotel. He found easily enough the place where a lock had been cut through, and opened the door to go in.

Mello was already there, in the hallway just inside the door, wearing nearly head-to-toe shiny black leather with his bare, lightly-muscled arms providing a nice contrast.

Something immediately felt wrong in Light's gut.

On instinct, in that split second that Light had a choice, he knew what he needed to do and opened his mouth, panicking.

He was too late. Before he could speak, Mello's order closed Light's mouth.

"Shut up and let me think."

Light waited, letting Mello think, all the while hating Mello and hating his own betraying body, his voice that would stop talking just because of some words written on paper.

Mello laughed, a bitter, slightly crazed laugh that nevertheless held a tone of admiration. He said, "Crap. We did exactly the same thing."

After a pause, Mello added, "You're not going to ask for anything whatsoever, you will not try to give me orders, and you're not going to take orders from anyone other than me. Got it? Tell me the truth."

Light replied, "I will do all of that."

Light could feel his face twisting in a snarl. It was so very wrong that Mello could gain the upper hand, again.

Mello said, "You'll obey me and respond to me, regardless of what happens from now on."

Light's mouth twisted, but he said, "Yes."

Mello said, "Well, you're an obedient little fuck now and last time was quite a bit of fun. I think we should replay those experiences with a few variations, over and over, until we run out of time."

Mello sighed, and then continued, "Since I've already rubbed that creep Near's face in his failure, there isn't anything better to do."

Light had the feeling that what Mello had just said was an awfully good idea, so he got down on all fours and started letting out soft, kittenish meows and then seductively licked at Mello's boots.

* * *

**A/N (Author's Note):**

This is not quite the end, there is still an epilogue left, with a very tiny plot twist left.

Sorry I took so long. I accidentally overwrote a bunch of work I'd done on this chapter and then needed to create it again from an earlier draft.

I kind of expect, if Mello and Light were actually capable of having a relationship, that it would go something like this. It would likely be sick, violent, short, and have a strong chance of leading to at least one of them dying.

The only way I can imagine something much different happening is if it gets more of an AU treatment than it has in this fic, for example if Light never became Kira or if the two of them never realized who the other was or something like that.

Having said that, I can see the appeal of the relationship and I'm a bit confused about why it is a rare pairing. MelloxLight has a lot of difficulties that get in the way of it working, yes, but so does LxLight and that's incredibly popular.

Mello and Light are both very good-looking, the age gap is similar to the age gap between L and Light, Mello is no longer jailbait by the point in the story when Light would be most likely to encounter him, and there is a lot of potential for angst, hate sex, manipulation, mind games, plot twists, and all the crazy stuff that makes LxLight so crazy, plus more, because Mello is a pretty severe criminal himself as well as quite possibly being insane.

Also, Mello and Light have some of that equals-but-opposites dynamic that gives them things in common as well as things to cause conflict. For example, they're both well-intentioned extremists who are murderers.

Well, in this chapter you found out why I was doing such contortions in previous chapters to try to whittle down the SPK to just four members. It was because I wanted to keep readers in suspense as to whether Mello had actually stolen the notebook and ran off with it or whether Near had conspired to make it look that way.

The two situations can make a big difference from a reader's viewpoint, and I wanted to keep it unknown to increase the suspense. However, if the SPK had still possessed numerous members and resources, then I imagine it wouldn't be believable to readers that Mello had escaped on his own with the notebook, and that would destroy the suspense.

As to which way it actually happened, there are some hints in the epilogue but I'm leaving it unresolved, up to readers to decide.


	15. Epilogue

**Epilogue**

It was a victory, of sorts. At least, it was a little victory amidst all the chaos and oddities of Light's last days of life.

He was fucking Mello, getting to bury his shaft over and over inside that slender, exquisite ass, the first time Light had ever been allowed to do that, to be the one penetrating.

Though, it had been allowed on very particular terms. Light was lying on his back on the cold tile of a bathroom floor, the stumps of his amputated arms still with the incredibly painful sensation of burning they'd had ever since Mello cauterized the severed parts with a red-hot iron. Light's legs were tied together with his own trousers, while Mello rode him mercilessly.

It was hot, tight and wonderful inside Mello, better than it had ever been inside Misa. And it was marvelously distracting from the pain of his missing arms. Light needed the distraction intensely, craved it with a mindless want. Pain and pleasure swirled together in his brain and he was certainly not going to let pain win.

That was not acceptable. Pain would never win.

Mello was teasing and nasty, riding hard enough to almost abuse Light's penis, constantly gasping out like a whore, with his mouth in a perfect "O" of pleasure.

Light could feel the rising surge within him. Every instinct he had urged him to release now, now, any moment now, into the moist, feverishly warm hole that was squeezing him, trying to milk him of every last drop of his essence. The skin on his cock was tingling and sensitive, so sensitive, almost too much to bear. Light was trying to arch his back further, feeling that heavy gathering of everything between his legs about to explode.

And then there was an unpleasant jolt as Mello leaned down and bit Light's shoulder hard, shockingly hard, right in a bruise Mello had bitten there before.

Mello's voice hissed in Light's ear, "You're not allowed to go soft on me yet. I want to jizz on your face."

Mello sat up straight again, laughing, his face contorted, looking positively _insane_ and frightening, continuing to slam himself down relentlessly over Light's hard, swollen penis, bringing back the building feeling of tingles and the heavy, concentrated desire.

Light whimpered involuntarily as he saw Mello stroking his own cock and aiming it, pointing at Light's face with that straining, dripping, incredibly swollen organ that looked as if it could take no more without coming.

Disconnected thoughts meandered through Light's brain, attempting to speculate about the distance Mello could ejaculate, but they were drowned out and scattered by Mello's relentless riding, by the way it was starting to almost hurt it was so good, and by the awareness of the trembles starting to shake Light's frame as he needed to finish, needed to finish badly.

And he was almost there. Light closed his eyes. He arched, rocking his hips up to meet Mello's downward thrusts.

Surging, surging within, almost there.

Light's penis was completely enclosed in a hot wet bliss that squeezed and rubbed him exactly right, winding the tension higher and higher with each stroke.

"Fuck," Light yelled, "fuck!"

And then he was feeling warm ropy spurts falling onto his chin and his neck. One slight upward movement of his hips later he was coming too, a blinding, mindless orgasm, a crest of pure pleasure that wiped out everything in its wake, destroying all thought and reason.

Light was only dimly aware of his legs wildly scrabbling and his painful arm-stumps throbbing as his cock continued to be a white-hot point of pleasure that sent ripples through his entire being.

Mello's fingers were sliding into Light's mouth, pushing the semen splattered along Light's chin inside his lips, but Light didn't care, he simply twitched and twitched in the aftershocks, tasting that bitter essence as he basked in a warm glowing feeling.

His arm-stumps _hurt_, hurt enormously.

Mello closed Light's nose with pinched fingers and sealed Light's mouth with a hand, refusing to let go until Light had swallowed every last bitter drop.

Then Mello leaned down and kissed him. It was an angry kiss, hard and insistent. Light hated Mello as he kissed him back, but he wanted it, he positively craved it.

Mello broke the kiss, got up and began to pick through the scattered items of clothing on the floor. He said, "I'm leaving."

Light tried to sit up and screamed as the raw end of one of his arm-stumps brushed the floor, the crusted burnt scabs painfully cracking.

Mello said, "Honey, I didn't know you loved me that much! Are you going to miss all the rape?"

Light panted, getting back his breath, trying to will his mind away from the pain, pain, pain that was now back full-force with nothing to distract him.

As soon as he thought he could speak without embarrassing himself, Light said, "How could you go? We've got two days of life yet, and I wrote that you can't leave this place."

"No, Sweetie Pie, at that point you had already been fooled by fake paper. It was either Bitch Number One or Bitch Number Two who wrote my name. Amane or Mikami. My bet is on Amane, but Near wouldn't tell me which one, the bastard."

_That's impossible. Mikami knows nothing of Mello. Misa would have written Mello's name if I failed, but if I had fake paper when I wrote Mello's name, then Misa should almost certainly have been tricked by fake paper as well. _

_Also, if I had fake paper when I wrote Mikami's name, then he never should have arrived to flip the trash can and become a suspect, so that proves I wasn't using fake paper._

_Unless the capsule I hid inside the mattress was switched while I was asleep._

_Or unless Near wrote down Misa's name before she ever met me at the airport and she unknowingly cooperated and confessed all my plans to the SPK._

_It doesn't matter! Mello is probably lying, trying to mess with my mind. Or Near lied to Mello._

Light said, "Even if you can leave, there's nothing for you to do."

Mello hesitated, then narrowed his eyes and said, "Something that little atheist shit said to me has been getting on my nerves. I'm going to find a priest and confess everything. I've got so many sins it'll probably take most of the time I've got left just to say it all. Murderers rarely go to heaven, and I don't deserve a place there, but I might as well try. God can forgive anything."

"It's useless."

Mello said, "Why am I telling you this? Just in case I _don't_ meet you in hell, Light Yagami, I want you to think of the paradise I'll be enjoying myself in after I earn my way out of purgatory, while you writhe in eternal torment."

"No," Light said, "I mean, it's useless because those places don't exist. There is no heaven or hell, only nothingness."

Mello's face was suddenly close, leaned down, his eyes large and looming, his breath tickling and oozing over Light's chin as he spoke.

"Are you so sure that a shinigami would tell you the truth? This is a shinigami who knows almost nothing about its own powers and, because of some stupid-ass rules, it is unable to tell you most of the important things it does know."

Light laughed bitterly and said, "It's better than trusting a book that's so old that even the simplest historical events in it can't be verified, a book that also contains numerous internal contradictions."

Mello's fist whipped out and across Light's jaw. Pain lanced through Light's face and neck as his head twisted viciously to the side. Black spots swam in front of his eyes. When he stopped blinking in confusion, Mello was standing next to Light's head, wearing nothing except shiny black boots and a dribble of semen trickling down one thigh.

Mello said, "I don't believe in a book. I believe in God. There's a difference."

"Your pope is supposed to be infallible-"

Light's words were stopped by a boot on his neck, crushing and making him wheeze painfully through the little gap that was left for breathing.

Mello smiled and said, "I'll tell you one more thing, Light. Something to _comfort_ your thoughts in your last two days of life, huh? It's possible my name wasn't written down for real. There were many deceptions and I suspect Near may have been controlling your little girlfriend. My opinion is that nobody fully knew what was happening. I might walk out of here and live. What do you think of that?"

Without waiting for an answer, Mello pressed down hard with his boot. Light hated him with a fierce, burning hatred.

Mello's smile got wider and he said, "Listen, you obedient fuck! You'll get hornier and hornier, but no matter what you do, you won't be able to have an orgasm. You'll become desperate, rutting against everything you can reach, but you'll only get more turned on in the process. You'll never have an orgasm. By the time you die, you'll be as frustrated as it is humanly possible to be!"

Mello paused, and when he spoke again his voice sounded very dangerous.

"Light, I bet you're curious about the death I wrote for you. I think it's time I told you. You'll commit suicide by hanging yourself with your own intestines."

_I hope that's not possible. How am I supposed to do that with no arms? Maybe it'll be a heart attack by default. Yes, that's what it will be._

The boot withdrew.

Light didn't say anything. He closed his eyes and was consumed with hatred, listening to Mello dress. When he heard the footsteps of his tormenter leaving, he couldn't help himself. He wriggled one leg out of the tied-up trousers that bound them together, managed to lurch to his feet, and walked after Mello's disappearing form, seeing only a flash of blond hair around a corner to guide his path.

He stumbled out into an empty hallway and heard Mello's voice and someone else's voice, out of sight somewhere.

_Down the stairs. That's the only place. Can Mello really leave this hotel? If there is someone else who will tell him to leave, will his forced obedience to commands override the part I wrote about him not leaving?_

_Or is he telling the truth, that I wrote his name on fake paper?_

_I confessed everything to Mello, so he knows where all the death notes are. If he lives, he could be extremely powerful._

_Unless Near forced Misa to confess, in which case Near has probably already collected them._

Light hurried, gritting his teeth and ignoring the pain, along with his erection that was somehow surging back, demanding attention. He wanted to rub it on the walls. The thought of being left utterly alone for the rest of his short life was a cold, vice-like feeling around his heart. He tried to keep his thoughts on the present, not the future.

He almost fell, going down the stairwell with as much speed as he dared. When he came to the bottom of it he could just see the backs of Mello and someone else at the other end of a long hallway.

Light shouted, "Hey!"

The other guy turned around. He was young, probably the same age as Mello, wearing goggles and a leather vest.

The guy said, "Mello, you _cut off _his arms?"

Mello turned around, and as if Light wasn't even there, said to the other guy, "Oh, I'm not a complete monster. I asked Light nicely if he would trade his arms for a chance at sticking his dick into my asshole, and he agreed. It was a fair trade. It felt pretty good, too. Yes, both of us got _exactly_ what we wanted. It was very satisfying."

_I hate you! You, you utter asshole! You filthy stain on society! What I want is to tear your eyes out and force-feed them to you and strangle you to death while I rape you with a chainsaw! No, I want to resurrect L, rape him with a chainsaw while you watch, and then feed you the bloody chunks!_

Light said nothing, unwilling to toss one last insult Mello's way because the guy seemed to get off on it. Mello loved insults and anger. Light grunted and turned his head away, closing his eyes.

He heard the two sets of footsteps leaving, soft scuffling sounds on the carpet. He kept trying to will away both his pain and the rising horniness that was becoming intolerable.

It felt like an eternity that he spent in silence, pain and arousal.

At last, in response to the insistent needs of his throbbing penis, he opened his eyes and began looking around for something to give him relief, regardless of how futile it was.

Light didn't see Mello, but he wished the man were still around to play with.

* * *

**A/N (Author's Note):**

It took quite a long time to get here, but this is the end.

Well, Matt finally appeared for his extremely brief cameo.

And if Mello is going to confess, I pity the priest.

Light is certainly going to die, either by hanging himself with his own intestines, or, if that is impossible because of no arms, then a default heart attack. I don't really feel like writing a death scene for him. I think the horror of what might possibly happen works better if it is ambiguous and isn't shown (and also if it ended up being hanging with his own intestines, I think that's too gory for me to want to write the scene).

Mello's fate is left ambiguous, to readers and to himself. If you really want to know, I did leave more hints in the direction that Mello may survive, but it could go either way.

Misa and Mikami probably both die. If Light didn't get them, Near probably did.

It is extremely likely that everyone else survived.

If you really want to know whether Mello and Near cooperated to trick Light or whether Mello escaped entirely on his own and then acted on his own, that is also left ambiguous, but I put more hints in the direction that they were probably collaborating (but in their usual way of cooperating with plenty of hate and lies mixed in).

If you wish there was more to this fic, there might be a little more: a deleted scene that I plan to upload as a chapter of "Smutty Shorts" since it didn't seem to fit and I decided not to make it part of the story.

When will it appear? Whenever I finish editing it. It's not much more than a sex scene. Gevanni and Mello get intimate when Mello is under Gevanni's care. I thought the sex scene seemed out of place, which is why I never uploaded it as part of this fic and decided not to include it here.


End file.
